5 May 2026

Tourist Movements at Borders (FRONTUR)

March 2026. Provisional data

Main results

  • Spain received 6.8 million international tourists in March, 3.3% more than in the same month in 2025.
  • In the first three months of 2026, the number of tourists increased by 2.5%.

In March, Spain received 6.8 million international tourists, 3.3% more than in the same month in 2025.

In the first three months of 2026 the number of tourists visiting Spain increased by 2.5% and exceeded 17.5 million.

International tourists arrivals by months

Annual variation. Percentage

The United Kingdom was the main country of residence, with almost 1.3 million tourists and an increase of 2.1% compared to March 2025. There were 924,088 arrivals from Germany (2.9% more) and 798,671 from France (4.4% more).

International tourists arrivals (*) by country of residence. March 2026

(*) Does not include transit travellers or same-day visitors (excursionists).

(**) Includes the estimate for Russia.

The main countries of origin in the first three months of the year were the United Kingdom (with almost 3.2 million and an increase of 2.3%), Germany (with almost 2.1 million and an increase of 1.2%) and France (with more than 2.0 million, an increase of 5.9%).

Main type of accommodation and other characteristics of the trips

The number of tourists who chose market accommodation as their main type of accommodation increased by 6.1% in annual terms. Within this type, hotel accommodation grew by 9.1% while rented dwellings fell by 1.6%. Non-market accommodation went down by 6.8%.

International tourist arrivals by type of accommodation. March 2026

Tourists mostly stayed for four to seven nights, totalling nearly 3.4 million with an annual increase of 4.1%. The number of visitors increased by 2.2% among non-overnight visitors (excursionists) and by 5.5% among tourists with a longer duration (more than 15 nights).

More than 5.3 million tourists travelled without a tourist package in March, an increase of 3.9%. Nearly 1.5 million tourists travelled with a tourist package, 1.2% more

Autonomous communities of main destination

The Canary Islands were the top tourist destination in March, with 22.9% of the total. It was followed by Cataluña (19.1%) and Andalucía (17.1%).

0.4% more tourists visited Canarias than in March 2025. The number of tourists visiting Cataluña decreased by 5.4% and 10.8% more tourists came to Andalucía.

International tourist arrivals by main Autonomous Community of destination. Monthly and cumulative data. March 2026

In the cumulative figure for the first three months of 2026, the Autonomous Communities that received the most tourists were Canarias (4.5 million: an increase of 2.8% as compared with the same period in 2025), Cataluña (3.5 million: a decrease of 2.6%) and Andalucía (2.7 million: 5.9% more).

Data revisions and updates

The data published today are provisional. All the results of this operation are available at INEbase.

Methodological note

The main objective of the Tourist Movement on Borders Survey (FRONTUR) is to estimate the number of non-residents visiting Spain on a monthly basis, as well as to know the main characteristics of the trips made by these visitors. The international definitions and recommendations of the UNWTO and EUROSTAT in this field are followed when preparing the FRONTUR.

Type of operation:
continuous monthly statistics.
Population scope:
this refers to non-residents in Spain who enter our country, whether or not they have stayed overnight, as well as those who pass through our country in transit.
Geographical scope:
the entire national territory. The sample is collected at the main access points for non-resident travellers, by road, airport, port and rail.
Reference period of the results:
the month.
Sample size:
the annual theoretical sample size of FRONTUR exceeds 450,000 surveys, which are distributed throughout the year, taking into account the seasonality of passenger flows.
Sampling type:
strata have been defined for each form of entry that group together border points, airports, ports and railway lines. In determining the road and airport sample, the day of the week in which the survey has been carried out is also identified, differentiating between working days, weekends and holidays. In airports, 21 air relations are defined (Spanish airport of origin-country of destination airport).
Collection method:
information is collected by direct interview when the traveller leaves Spain, using a multilingual electronic questionnaire.

For more information, you can access the methodology and the standardised methodological report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at INE and the Code of Best Practices.

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