World's second most popular destination welcomes record 17 million tourists in Q1

By AFP May 6, 2025 | 11:09 pm PT

Tourists visit the town of Malaga in a horse-drawn carriage on Feb. 10, 2025. Photo by AFP

Spain, the world's second most visited country last year after France, welcomed a record 17 million foreign tourists in the first three months of 2025 as the buoyant sector drives an economy outshining European peers, official data showed on Monday.

The 17.1 million foreign tourists arriving in Spain from January to March was a 5.7% increase from the same period in 2024, the National Statistics Institute said.

Britain, France and Germany supplied the most holidaymakers to Spain, which last year hosted a record 94 million foreign tourists seeking its sun, beaches and culture.

Spending by foreign tourists also climbed 7.2% to 23.5 billion euros ($26.7 billion), the tourism ministry said in a statement, a welcome development for the government which wants visitors to splash more cash during their stay.

The tourist sector was one of the drivers of Spain's standout growth of 3.2% in 2024, well above the EU figure of 1%.

But the bonanza has sparked a growing backlash among locals who complain that an unsustainable influx of foreign visitors is driving up rents, saturating infrastructure and changing the fabric of neighborhoods.

Spain aims to "diversify" destinations, make the sector less dependent on key seasons and "share out the benefits" across the country, Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu said in a statement.