Spain received 11.5 million foreign tourists in July, which was 4.6% more than in the same month of 2025, and recorded spending of 18,218 million euros, 10.9% more annually, according to data made public this morning by the INE. It is the highest traveler arrival data in history for a single month (the previous one was August 2025, with 11.2 million), which has also pushed spending figures to the maximum in the statistical series. The behavior of the sector in the seventh month thus paves the way for 2026 to be the year in which Spain receives more than 100 million tourists for the first time.
Between January and July, the main destinations welcomed 58.1 million travelers, with a growth of 4.6%, while spending accumulated an increase of 7.8% to 82,054 million euros. If this progression is maintained until the end of the year, something that seems quite possible based on the reservations handled by hotels and airlines for the coming months, it could even exceed 101 million foreign travelers, while spending could exceed 145,000 million euros.
The balance for July shows a rebound in tourist arrivals compared to the slowdown that the sector suffered in June. In the first month of the high season, an unprecedented event occurred: for the first time, more foreign travelers arrived in May than in June, triggering alerts among airlines, hotels and travel agencies. The July data once again calms the waters with a growth of close to 5% in arrivals. A spokesperson for the Balearic hotel chain Riu confirms that the forecasts for August are just as good as those for July. “Occupancy has been positive and stable during the summer months in all our destinations in Spain, exceeding 90% occupancy on average,” he points out.
The United Kingdom consolidated itself as the leading tourist source market, with 2.2 million tourists (19.1% of the total) in the seventh month and an increase of 5.6% annually. France and Germany, the other two major sources of travelers to Spain, rebounded after the declines experienced in June. In July, admissions once again grew by 2.3% in both countries, reaching 1.58 million in the case of France (13.7% of the total) and 1.2 million in Germany (10.4% of the total).
The worse performance of the German market, which accumulated a drop of 0.5% in the first seven months of the year, is the main reason that explains the stagnation of the arrival of travelers to the Balearic Islands. Despite this, it was the most visited region in July, with 2.56 million tourists and a pyrrhic growth of 0.1%, as a result of its high dependence on the German market. Close on its heels was Catalonia, which closed that month with the arrival of 2.37 million travelers and a timid 0.8% growth, while Andalusia was in third place, with 1.68 million travelers and an annual increase of 9.5%. A pace similar to that experienced by the Valencian Community, which reached historical highs in that month, with 1.63 million.
