The Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, highlighted “the extraordinary growth of Spain as one of the leading destinations in the global tourism market in a month traditionally considered to be low season”.

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The number of international air passengers increased by 18.1% in February

Passengers at an airport passengers at an airport.
In Hereu’s opinion, “anything that means growth in absolute figures is good news; news to which we must also add other variables such as the quality and modernity of our destinations, which are increasingly appreciated, and which place us at the head of international tourists’ preferences”.

The month of February maintained the positive trend of the beginning of the year and experienced a significant increase in international air passengers, which grew by 18.1% year-on-year to reach 6.3 million, according to data published today by Turespaña. Of these almost 6 million, 57.3% came from within the European Union, an increase of 19.1%, while the flow from the rest of the world, which accounted for the remaining 42.7%, increased by 16.8%. Adding January and February, Spain has already received 12.3 million international passengers, 15.5% more than in the first two months of 2023.

February accelerated the upward trend, with an increase in passengers departing to Spain from all the main sending countries compared to the figures for the same month in 2023, except Portugal. Of particular note for this month were the notable increases in Poland (84.8%), Ireland (27.3%), Switzerland (24.2%) and Italy (21.4%). The diversification of markets in the rest of the world reached a weight close to 27% and an increase of 19.7% compared to a year ago.

The United Kingdom, with 1.3 million international passengers, generated 19.9% of the total flow of arrivals to Spain in February, registering a year-on-year increase of 15.1%. The Canary Islands was the largest recipient of arrivals, accounting for 40.1% of the total number of passengers of British origin. 82.8% of British passengers travelled on a low-cost airline, with the United Kingdom being the leader in arrivals on these airlines, accounting for 28% of the total.

Passenger arrivals from Germany in February stood at 806,357 (12.7% of the total), an increase of 19% compared to February 2023. German travellers mainly went to the Canary Islands (37.4% of passengers). As a noteworthy fact, slightly less than half of German passengers (47.9% of the total) travelled on traditional airlines, with Germany being the market that led the arrivals on this type of airline (14.9% of the total).

Italy accounted for 9.8% of the passenger flow received in February (623,910 passengers), registering a year-on-year growth of 21.4%, which particularly benefited Catalonia and the Community of Madrid. The Basque Country and Asturias recorded notable year-on-year growth of over 100%. Among Italian travellers, 77.8% were predominantly low-cost airlines, an increase of 23.3% compared to a year ago.

France, on the other hand, issued 7.5% of the total number of passengers in February, showing an expansion of 4.7% which particularly favoured Madrid and Catalonia, which received more than 100,000 arrivals respectively and together accounted for 58.8% of the total number of arrivals. 63.7% of French passengers used CBC on their flights, experiencing a year-on-year growth of 1.7%.

Finally, the Netherlands accounted for 5.1% of total arrivals. This market experienced a growth of 20.8% in February and its main destinations were Catalonia and Valencia, together accounting for 42.1% of arrivals. The vast majority of travellers from the Netherlands (71%) also opted for low-cost airlines for their flights.

Autonomous Communities of destination
The six main receiving Autonomous Communities accounted for a 97.6% share of arrivals and all experienced increases in the second month of the year. The highest year-on-year increases – of 30.9% and 24.6% – were in Andalusia and Valencia.

Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport received the most arrivals in February, with 1.7 million, followed by Barcelona, with 1.3 million, and Malaga, with 584,299. The highest year-on-year increase was precisely at Malaga airport, with a 31.8% increase, followed by Alicante, with 28.5%.