Spain hosts record 97m tourists

A record 97 million foreign tourists visited Spain in 2025 as the economically vital sector set a new benchmark for the second year running, the tourism minister said yesterday.

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The first estimation represented a 3.5% increase on the 2024 figure of 94 million, while spending climbed 6.8% to €135 billion (about R2.5 trillion), Jordi Hereu told a press conference in Madrid.

“This is a collective success by the whole country that perfectly demonstrates Spain’s enormous attractivity, because Spain is a country that seduces the world,” he said.

Most visitors are European, with British, German and French holidaymakers accounting for around half of the arrivals, said Pedro Aznar, a professor at Esade business school.