Balearics tourism lifts as foreign spending jumps 8.8%

The Balearics help drive Spain’s tourism upswing as foreign visitor spending rises 8.8% between May and August 2026. Alongside Catalonia and the Canary Islands, the islands made one of the biggest contributions to faster growth than in the first four months of the year. BBVA Research reported the figures on 18 September.

Total tourism spending across Spain grew by 5.7% year on year in the second four-month period, six tenths faster than from January to April. Foreign travellers supplied all of that acceleration as spending by Spanish travellers continued to lose pace.

Foreign visitors push the rise

BBVA Research links part of the increase in international tourism to geopolitical tensions. It also points to the total solar eclipse on 12 August.

During the week from 10 to 16 August, foreign travellers’ spending across Spain was 13.8% above the same week a year earlier. In provinces where the eclipse was fully visible, in-person purchases on cards issued by foreign banks rose 25.7% year on year — 13.6 points more than the previous week.

Foreign visitor spending increased in every autonomous community. Asturias, Cantabria, Galicia and Aragón posted the strongest rises, while Catalonia, the Balearics, the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community were the main forces behind the national acceleration.

Spanish spending slips in the Balearics

Spanish travellers spent 2.5% more within Spain between May and August than a year earlier, a rate nine tenths lower than in the previous four months. The Balearics were the only autonomous community where this spending fell.

BBVA Research says higher prices and greater saturation may be behind the slower domestic market. More people travelled, but lower average spending per visitor weighed on results in most regions.

Topics: Fires · Tourism · Economy

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com