Foreign tourists spent a record 7.8 billion euros in Andalucía up to May

Tourism

During the first five months of the year, destinations in the region welcomed eight per cent more international visitors, bringing the total to 5.8 million

Pilar Martínez

Málaga

Andalucía continues to attract increasing numbers of international tourists, who are spending more during their visits. This is according to data from the official surveys ... on tourist movements at borders (Frontur) and tourist expenditure (Egatur), published monthly by the national statistics institute (INE).

This data shows that in the first five months of the year, international tourism in Andalucía has maintained its upward trend, consolidating its growth and reaching record figures for both the number of visitors and the total revenue generated. Specifically, foreign tourists spent 7.8 billion euros in Andalusian destinations. This represents an increase of 7.72 per cent compared with the 7.233 billion recorded in the same period of 2025.

In the first five months of the year - which are not exactly the busiest for this sector - the number of international visitors exceeded the five-and-a-half-million mark, with a total of 5,802.572 tourists. This represents an increase of 8.01 per cent compared with the first five months of the previous year, when 5.36 million international travellers chose Andalucia as their holiday destination.

Year-to-date, Spain has broken a record by attracting more than 50 billion euros in international spending up to May. Within this context, Andalucía attracted 15.9 per cent of the country’s foreign tourists during the month of May, placing it third in the national ranking. This is surpassed only by Catalonia, with a share of 21.1 per cent, and the Balearic Islands, with 20.6 per cent.

Total spending by international tourists in the fifth month of 2026 amounted to 13.5 billion euros, 10.9 per cent more than in May of the previous year. As for arrivals, by May the number of foreign travellers to the country had reached 36.8 million, an increase of five per cent.

The statistics focus on last May, when total spending by foreign visitors in Andalucía exceeded two billion for the first time in that month, an 8.4 per cent increase. During this same period, average daily spending rose significantly to 200 euros per person per day – 6.21 per cent more than in May 2025. Furthermore, the figures show that the average length of stay in the region stood at 6.27 days. Due to a slight variation in the duration of trips, average spending per tourist was 1,257 euros, representing a one-off decrease of 3.81 per cent compared with the previous year, despite the fact that spending per day rose.

2.05 billion

This is the amount spent by foreign tourists who visited Andalusian destinations in May.

In this fifth month of the year, the United Kingdom was the country with the highest expenditure, accounting for 18.5 per cent of the total, with growth of 6.2 per cent. This was followed by Germany, with 11.1 per cent and an increase of 13.4 per cent, and France, with 7.8 per cent of the total and a rise of 7.2 per cent. However, in terms of spending, Italy’s 26.2 per cent growth stands out.

It is worth noting that between January and May 2025, international tourists visiting Andalucía spent more than seven billion euros. This figure represented an increase of 11.18 per cent compared with the same period the previous year, positioning the region as one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the country.

During this period, Andalucía welcomed 5,363,976 international tourists, 9.6 per cent more than in 2024. Each traveller spent an average of 1,349 euros during their stay, with an average daily spend of 171 euros per person. These figures placed Andalucía third in the national rankings for both tourist arrivals and revenue generated, behind only the Canary Islands and Catalonia.

The ministry of industry and tourism said that figures on trends in international tourism and spending by these travellers at their destination confirm that growth in spending continues to outpace the rate of increase in arrivals.

In May, the increase in spending by international tourists was 1.4 per cent higher than the rise in the number of foreign visitors. “This continues a trend that has been evident in previous years and is continuing into the first few months of 2026. During this month, each tourist spent an average of 1,321 euros, representing a 1.2 per cent increase compared with May of the previous year. The average daily spend by visitors rose by 1.7 per cent year-on-year, standing at 214 euros,” the ministry said.