In 2024 Spain will receive 105.6 million international air passengers, 11.1% more than in 2023. It is another record, and nothing new for a country that continues to surpass its own records. Just a week ago the Minister of Tourism, Jordi Hereu, announced that last year 94 million foreign tourists arrived in our country, 10% more than the previous year. That is to say, brands are approaching the 100 million milestone, and this can be a problem.
“For us it is very important to diversify, deconcentrate and deseasonalize tourism,” the minister said last week, because the truth is that the debate now is that. In cities like Barcelona and Madrid there are very tense areas – with an impact on the housing market – and the debate has long pivoted more towards quality than quantity.
In June, when the controversy surrounding saturation was intensifying, the executive vice president of the tourist association, José Luis Zoreda, issued a warning to sailors by asking public representatives to abandon triumphalist theses when they talk about visitor numbers and remember that, As with all sectors of the economy, it cannot grow “in an unlimited manner, because that is unsustainable.” “Spain will never have a demand problem, so we should not try to break tourist records but citizen satisfaction records,” Zoreda said.
The United Kingdom leads and the Poles surprise
Of the total of more than 100 million passengers that arrived in 2024, 86.1% came from Europefollowed by America, with a share of 8.9%. Asia, in turn, was the geographic area of origin with the highest year-on-year growth in international passengers (22.8%). The most curious data, perhaps, is that of Poland, whose nationals increased arrivals to Spain by 40%. The Americans offer the other notable score, with an increase of 15%.
Regarding traditional markets, the United Kingdom continues to dominate with more than 23 million arrivals in 2024, 7.7% more than in 2023. In percentage, the British represent 21.8% of the total passengers arriving in our country. country by air.
They are followed by German travelers, who in 2024 amounted to 14.6 million (+9.9% compared to 2023) and represent 13.8% of total passengers; the Italians, who amount to 10.3 million (+15%); the French, with 7.9 million (+7%); and those from the Netherlands, with five million arrivals (+7.5%).
By autonomous communities, Madrid received the most international passengers, with 24.5 million and an increase of 11.2% compared to 2023, followed by Catalonia, with 21.9 million and a 13% growth, and the Balearic Islands, with 15.7 million and an increase of 6.7%. Correlatively, Barajas led by airports, with 24.4 million arrivals in 2024, followed by Barcelona, with 20.3 million, and Málaga, with 10.3 million. The largest year-on-year increase occurred at Alicante airport, with 16.7% more compared to 2023 data.
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