Spain breaks all-time tourism record in August despite rising prices and protests by locals

SPAIN has smashed its all-time record for tourist numbers in August, new figures reveal.

In the eighth month of this year, a total of 13,586,095 people visited the country, exceeding the previous best of August 2019.

The record comes despite rising hotel prices and a surge in protests against ‘overtourism’ in the biggest holiday hotspots, including Mallorca, Malaga, Barcelona and Tenerife.

According to the INE Hotel Tourism report, released yesterday, there were 47.8 million overnight stays in August, 2.6% more than last year.

So far this year, there have been 252.4 million overnight hotel stays, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.6%, and a new record.

The surge has been buoyed by foreign visitors, whose hotel stays grew by 4.9% compared to 2023, while those of locals dropped by 1.3%.

They did not seem put off by the rising hotel prices, which shot up on average by 6.4% over the past year.

In Madrid, they rose by 10.7%, and in Catalunya, by 4.9%.

Barcelona hotels closed the months of July and August with an average price of €195.1 per room per night, which is 30% higher than in 2019.

By regions, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and Catalunya once again lead the hotel occupancy rankings, which stood at 76% for the whole of Spain in August, almost 2% more than in 2023.

The most booked place in Spain this August was the Barcelona town of Santa Susanna with an occupancy rate of 99.4%.