Easter tourism peak for Costa del Sol hotels turns out better than expected

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Good weather and increased demand from international visitors, partly due to the war in Iran, helped the Costa del Sol reach slightly higher hotel occupancy this year over Easter

Pilar Martínez

Malaga.

Friday, 10 April 2026, 11:02

Good weather and increased demand from international visitors, partly due to the war in Iran, helped the Costa del Sol reach slightly higher hotel occupancy this year over Easter. Hoteliers had been concerned about the effects of the disrupted high-speed line from Malaga to Madrid, which traditionally provides a significant source of domestic tourism for the Costa during the Holy Week celebrations.

Costa del Sol hoteliers association Aehcos said this week that from 27 March to 6 April, Malaga province recorded an average occupancy of 82.85%. It explained that this "slightly exceeded initial forecasts and confirmed the strength of the destination during one of the key periods in the tourism calendar".

Compared with 2025, occupancy rose by 2.67 percentage points, from 80.18% during Holy Week that year.