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