Spain received 82.2 million international passengers between January and October, up 18.4% on the same period last year and 0.6% less than in 2019, according to Turespaña data.
In October, 9 million passengers arrived in Spain from international airports, 13.4% more than in the same month of 2022. 57.6% of the total number of passengers in October came from the European Union, up 14.5%, while the flow from the rest of the world, which accounted for the remaining 42.4%, increased by 12%.
Visitors from European Union
Notable were the increased numbers of increases in passengers from Italy (+20.7%), the Netherlands (+18.1%), Portugal (+18%) and Ireland (+17.7%). The UK recorded just over 2 million international passengers, accounting for 22.4% of total arrivals in Spain in October. This represents a 10.4% increase on last year. International passengers accounted for 15% of the total in October, with almost 1.4 million, and an increase of 11.4%. Most travellers went to the Balearic Islands (41%).
Italy contributed 9.2% to the total flow of passengers in October, with more than 830,000, representing a year-on-year increase of 20.7%. Catalonia and the Madrid region were particularly popular with Italians. The biggest year-on-year increase for this market was experienced by the Basque Country, with 244% more arrivals from Italian travellers.
France accounted for 8% of total passengers in October, up 6.4%. Madrid particularly benefited, accounting for 26.4% of arrivals. Also notable were year-on-year increases in Asturias, the Basque Country and the Valencian Community.
The Dutch accounted for 5.2% of total arrivals, up from 18.1% in October. Also for the Dutch, the main destinations were Catalonia and the Valencian Community, together accounting for 40% of arrivals.
Most arrivals
The Balearic Islands and Canary Islands were the communities with the highest number of arrivals. 46.2% of travellers were British. Green Spain (Galicia, Cantabria, Asturias and the Basque Country) recorded increases of more than 10%. Mediterranean communities and Madrid also saw visitor numbers rise by over 10%.
Airport with most arrivals
Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport received the most passengers in October, 1.9 million. This was followed by Barcelona with 1.6 million and Palma de Mallorca with 1.1 million. The biggest year-on-year increase was at Valencia airport, with 29.1% more arrivals, followed by Alicante with 19.4%. From January to October 2023, the airports with the biggest increase were Valencia with 27.8% more, Barcelona with 23.3% and Madrid with 22.8%.
Looking at the cumulative figure until October, Catalonia and Madrid are the two communities with the highest growth in passenger arrivals (22.8% in both), followed by Valencia with 22.6%.
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