Our data highlights Spain’s dominant role in Southern European tourism, capturing 33% of global international travel demand to the region and 12% of global travel demand to Europe during 2025 first semester, building up the year-round appeal for Spanish destinations, particularly during shoulder and low seasons.
Spain reaffirms its position as a global tourism leader, capturing 33% of total international travel demand to Southern Europe for the first half of 2025, according to our latest analysis. Key destinations like Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands continue to attract international visitors year-round, showcasing Spain’s vital role in driving sustainable growth for the region’s tourism industry.
These findings reflect inspirational travel demand data based on Mabrian’s Share of Searches Index*, which measures market interest in specific destinations by analysing flight search behaviour globally, independent of confirmed bookings. For this analysis, the Share of Searches Index tracked global flight searches to the top 20 airports in Spain, representing 82% of the total travel demand to the country. The study focuses exclusively on international demand for trips between January and June 2025, comparing the Spain’s global share of demand to last years.
Overall, 74.4% of global inspirational travel demand to Spain during the first semester of 2025 is concentrated in just 10 destinations: Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Alicante, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Valencia, Seville, and Lanzarote. “This concentration highlights the strong pull these Spanish destinations have among international travellers,” says Carlos Cendra, Director of Marketing and Communications at Mabrian.
Spain’s two main connectivity hubs, Madrid and Barcelona, account for 24% and 21.7%, respectively, of total international demand to the country. Both cities are also experiencing a surge in inspirational demand, with Madrid increasing its global inspirational demand share by +3 percentage points compared to the first half of 2024. Barcelona, similarly, has grown by +1.2 percentage points year-over-year.
On the other hand, Mabrian’s data suggests that the Canary Islands will continue being trending destinations among international visitors travelling to Spain during the first half of 2025. Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura are all showing higher demand shares compared to the same period in 2024. Tenerife leads the trend, capturing 3.7% of international travel demand to Spain, followed by Gran Canaria with 3.4%.
“Three other destinations are worth monitoring due to their ability to attract international demand,” says Cendra. These include Malaga, Alicante, and Palma de Mallorca, that represent, respectively, 6.4%, 4.3% and 4.1% of global inspirational demand to Spain. “This positive trend reflects the sustained efforts to position these destinations as year-round options,” he adds.
Spain Captures One-Third of Global Travel Demand to Southern Europe
The Spanish 20 destinations analysed—including Ibiza and Menorca in the Balearic Islands, Tarragona and Girona in Catalonia, Granada in Andalusia, as well as Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain—account for 33% of total international travel demand to Southern Europe and 12% of global demand for travel to Europe.
“This data reinforces Spain’s position as a leading global destination and its significant role in driving demand to Europe” Cendra explains. With Spain breaking a new record in 2024 by welcoming 94 million international travellers, he emphasizes that “data intelligence is crucial for optimizing this demand, ensuring that resources are managed effectively to keep travel and tourism both productive and beneficial for the industry and local communities.”
* Mabrian’s Share of Searches Index is proprietary index that reflects the strength of travel demand based on flight searches behaviour. Given a source market and a period of time, the Share of Searches Index is a percentage that correlates the total flight searches globally with spontaneous searches for specific destinations. Unlike confirmed bookings, this ratio shows the degree of market interest in certain destinations, and whether reservations are confirmed depends on many factors, from available connectivity, flight and accommodation prices, or other phenomena that may influence travellers’ willingness to purchase or spend. For further details, visit: https://mabrian.com/blog/share-of-searches-index/