It would appear that the protests over mass tourism which have been spreading across the Balearics and Spain are not having much impact on UK holidaymakers. Spain received more than 52 million international air passengers in the first half of 2025, representing a 6.4% increase over the same period last year, according to data from Turespaña released on Friday by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
In June alone, passengers arriving from international airports totalled 10.7 million, 4.5% more than in the same month last year. By source market, the United Kingdom sent 11.08 million international passengers and generated 21.3% of total arrivals in Spain, recording a year-on-year increase of 4.4% during the first six months.
In June, 1.4 million passengers flew from Germany (13.6% of the total), with a year-on-year increase of 1%, followed by Italy (5.2 million and +11.8%), France (3.9 million and +5.2%) and the Netherlands (2.5 million and +4.8%). There were also notable increases in Ireland and Poland, with +9.3% and +14.2% compared to the previous year, respectively.
For the month of June, Turespaña highlighted the increases in Asian countries China and South Korea, as well as the increases in passengers from Turkey and Colombia. The six main autonomous communities (Madrid, Catalonia, the Balearics, the Canary Islands, Andalusia and Valencia) accounted for 97.2% of total arrivals. All recorded increases, with the most significant in Valencia, at 12.5%, and the most moderate in the Balearics, at 3.7%.
The Community of Madrid accounted for the highest number of passengers in the first half of 2025, with 23.6% of arrivals and an increase of 5% to 12.3 million passengers. In line with the above data, Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas airport received the most arrivals, ahead of Barcelona, with 10 million international passengers (+5.7%), and Palma, with 5.2 million arrivals and an increase of 3.7%.
The largest year-on-year increase was recorded at Valencia airport, with 14% more arrivals in the year to date, closely followed by Alicante, with 11.7%.