Balearic airports received 15,628,717 international passengers between January and October, 2.4% more than last year. In October alone, 1,610,574 passengers arrived on international flights, a 0.1% decrease compared to the same month in 2024, according to data published by Turespaña. By type of flight, the majority of international passengers arrived on low-cost airlines, chosen by 10,903,152 travellers, 69.7% of the total. The figure is up 4.4% on the first ten months of last year.
Passengers who flew to the Balearics on traditional airlines numbered 4,725,565 up to October, a decrease of 2%.
Palma airport is the third in Spain to have received the most international passengers so far this year - behind Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona - with 11,936,115, an increase of 2.3%. Sixty-eight per cent of passengers flew to Palma on low-cost airlines, with 11,936,115, an increase of 2.3%, and the other 3,807,896 on traditional airlines, a decrease of 1.7% compared to last year. In October, Son Sant Joan was also third, with 1,282,725 international travellers, a stable figure compared to the same month last year.
Neither Ibiza nor Menorca are among the ten airports with the most international passengers in October. Between January and October, Spain received 96.7 million passengers by air, 5.6% more than in the same period last year, although the German market, the second largest source of tourists, continues to show signs of weakness. According to Turespaña, 10.3 million tourists arrived in Spain by plane in October alone, also 5.6% more than a year earlier.
In October, there was an increase in international passenger arrivals from all the main source markets, although the increases from Ireland (14.6%) and Poland (12.5%) stand out. The United Kingdom remained the leading source market in October, with 2.2 million passengers, 4.4% more than in the same month in 2024, and 21.7% of the total number of arrivals in Spain.
Germany, the second largest source market, continues to struggle: in October, 1.5 million passengers arrived, only 0.2% more than a year earlier, mainly travelling to the Balearics, although with a decrease in passenger numbers compared to the previous year (24,000 fewer). As a result, the Balearics was the only major tourist region to see a decline in air passenger numbers in October, down 0.1% (to 1.6 million). In cumulative figures up to October, it continues to grow (2.4%), although this is the lowest growth rate among the most visited regions.
Madrid was the region that received the most tourists, 2.28 million (22.1% of the total), followed by Catalonia (2.12 million). Between them, they receive almost 59% of air traffic from abroad. In other markets, Turespaña highlights the diversification of travellers’ origins and points to increases from Latin American countries such as Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina; in Asia, China and Japan stand out, and from the Persian Gulf countries, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
By airport, the largest year-on-year increases were recorded in Valencia and Seville, with rises of 11.2% in each case. The airport with the most arrivals was Madrid-Barajas, with 2.2 million in October, up 8.7%; followed by Barcelona-El Prat, with 1.9 million international passengers (up 6.9%), and Palma, with 1.2 million arrivals (no growth in this case). Of the 10.3 million travellers who arrived in October, 6.2 million did so on low-cost airlines (60% of the total), with an increase of 6.4%.
In the first 10 months of the year, 57.48 million travellers (59.5% of the total 96.7 million) arrived on low-cost airlines.
The travellers who use low-cost airlines the most are British, with more than 30% arriving on this type of airline. Those who travel most on traditional airlines are German (16.4%). And, Spain continues to break records in 2025. Between January and September, over 76 million international tourists arrived, the best historical data and the total spending was around € 106 billion. Although the rate of arrivals is moderate compared to the previous year, spending continues to rise, reflecting more sustainable tourism focused on quality.
The UK remains the main market, followed by France and Germany, while Catalonia, Balearic Islands and Andalusia concentrate the majority of visits. Around 15.3 million foreign visitors spent € 13,364 million in September, with an average expenditure per person of € 1,380 and an average stay of around a week.