Last updated: October 14, 2022, by Grant Thomas
🔖Cite this webpage (Thomas, Grant. “Latest Spain Travel Statistics & Data”. visasassociation.com, October 14, 2022, https://visasassociation.com/statistics/spain-travel-statistics)
Note: The latest travel and Schengen Visa statistics available about Spain are for 2021. We will update this page as soon as 2022 travel data and statistics on Spain are available.
Highlights: Latest Spain Tourism Statistics & Trends
- In 2021, Spain received 30% more Schengen Visa applications compared with 2020.
- In 2021, Spain received 75% fewer Schengen Visa applications compared with 2019.Â
- In 2021, Spain’s Schengen Visa approval rate was 84.5%.
- Spain recorded roughly 31 million international arrivals in 2021, with 12 million or 39% more compared with 2020.
- In 2021, Spain recorded 64% fewer international tourist arrivals compared with 2019.
- France was the leading country for international tourism in Spain in 2021.
- In 2021, Morocco submitted 17.5% of the total number of Schengen Visa applications for Spain.
- The country that had the highest rejection rate for Schengen Visa for Spain in 2021 was Ghana (55% rejection rate).
Tourism in Spain Start to Recover in 2021 but Remains Far Below Pre-Pandemic Levels
Due to the imposition of local and national measures in Spain in 2020, international tourist arrivals plunged by 70% with unprecedented effects on jobs and businesses.
While the tourism industry in Spain saw a gradual improvement thanks to the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and the easing of restrictions, the country failed to reach half its pre-pandemic levels in 2021.
The pace of recovery remained slow due to vaccination rates, traveller confidence and the spread of the Omicron variant which prompted new travel restrictions.
Just over 31 million tourists visited Spain in 2021, 39% more compared to 2020. However, that was a far cry from the 83.5 million who visited Spain in 2019.
- In 2021, Spain received 483,000 Schengen Visa applications, 30% or 143,000 more than in 2020.
- Spain issued 377,000 Schengen Visas in 2021, 30% or 114,000 fewer than in 2020.
- The most important source markets for Spain in 2021 were France with 5,800,000 visitors and Germany with 5,200,000 visitors.
- In 2021, the international tourist expenditure for business trips to Spain totalled roughly 2,2 million euros.
- In 2021, the average daily expenditure per person for business trips to Spain was 171 euros.
- In 2021, the average expenditure per person for business trips to Spain was 1,076 euros.
- In 2021, the average duration of a business trip to Spain was 6.3 days.
- In 2021, the international tourist expenditure for business trips to Spain increased by 38% compared with 2020.Â
- In 2021, the international tourist expenditure for leisure trips to Spain totalled nearly 30 million euros.
- In 2021, the average daily expenditure per person for leisure trips to Spain was 142 euros.
- In 2021, the average expenditure per person for leisure trips to Spain was 1,116 euros.
- In 2021, the average duration of a leisure trip to Spain was 7.8 days.
- In 2021, the international tourist expenditure for leisure trips to Spain increased by 44% compared with 2020.Â
- In 2021, 86.4% of the total travel consumption expenditure in Spain was made by visitors entering the country by air.Â
- In 2021, Spain was the second country with the highest number of Schengen Visa applications received.
- In 2021, the tourism industry in Spain represented 7.4% of the GDP of the national economy.
- The share of the total GDP generated by the travel and tourism industry in Spain in 2021 increased by 1.9 percentage points compared with 2020.
- In 2021, Spain received roughly 31,000,000 overnight visitors.
- In 2021, Spain received nearly 20,500,000 same-day visitors.
- The contribution of the tourism sector to the GDP in Spain in 2021 amounted to 88,5 million euros, 30% more than what it generated in 2020.
- The contribution of the tourism sector to GDP in Spain in 2021 totalled 88,5 million euros, 42.8% less than what it generated in 2019.
- In 2021, Spain recorded 259 million nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments, 44% more compared with 2020.
- In 2021, Spain recorded 45% fewer nights spent at tourist accommodation establishments compared with 2019.
- In 2021, international tourists accounted for 40% of the total tourism spending in Spain which represents an increase of 3 percentage points compared with 2020.
- In 2021, domestic tourists accounted for 60% of the total tourism spending in Spain which represents a decline of 3 percentage points compared with 2020.Â
- The total expenditure of domestic tourism in Spain increased by nearly 65% in 2021 compared with 2020.Â
- In August 2021, Spain recorded 15,008 million international tourist arrivals which represents a decline of 4% points compared with August 2020.
- In August 2021, Spain recorded 34% more bookings in non-hotel accommodations compared with the same period in 2020.
- In August 2021, Spain recorded 51% more hotel bookings compared with the same period in 2020.
- In 2021, the Balearic Islands were the most popular destination among international tourists in Spain, with over 6.3 million visitors.Â
Schengen Visa Applications & Tourism in Spain: Latest Trends
Spain’s Schengen Visa approval rate from 2015 to 2021
Countries that submitted the highest number of Schengen Visa applications for Spain from 2015 to 2021
Top 5 countries that submitted the highest number of Schengen Visa applications for Spain in 2021
Approval rates for the countries that submitted the highest number of Schengen Visa applications for Spain in 2021
Top 5 third countries that had the highest rejection rates for the Schengen Visa for Spain in 2021
International Tourist Arrivals in Spain from 2015 to 2021
Contribution of the tourism sector to GDP in Spain from 2015 to 2021
Spain: Share of overnight visitors and same-day visitors from 2015 to 2021Â
Spain: Average tourist spending per person per trip from 2015 to 2021
Spain: Average tourist spending per person per day from 2015 to 2021
Share of the total GDP generated by the travel and tourism industry in Spain between 2015 and 2021
International tourist arrivals in Spain from August 2015 to August 2021
Number of bookings in non-hotel accommodations in Spain from August 2015 to August 2021
Number of hotel bookings in Spain from August 2015 to August 2021
Sources:
European Commission – Statistics on short-stay visas issued by the Schengen States
STATISTA – International Tourism in Spain – Statistics & Facts
National Institute of Statistics – INE
epdata.es – El turismo en España y en el mundo, en datos y gráficos
DATAESTUR – Information on Spain’s tourism industry
datosmacro – España – Turismo internacional
dataestur – SelecciĂłn de los datos más relevantes del turismo de España