Barcelona reaches 9.68 million tourists and spending grows by 12.8%

Data from the Observatori del Turisme a Barcelona, collected in the report released this Saturday, put average spending during a stay at 118 euros per person per day, 8.6% more than a year ago. That amount does not include accommodation, whose average cost in the first seven months stood at 100.9 euros.

June has so far been the month with the greatest activity: Barcelona received around 1.72 million accommodated tourists, 11.5% more, and associated spending reached 1,224.8 million euros. July came close, with 1.66 million visitors and 1,186.8 million in spending, although the latter figure represents a particularly sharp year-on-year rise of 21.5%.

Spending patterns also change in summer. In July, 45.7% of expenditure during the stay, excluding accommodation, went on food and drink. Culture and leisure absorbed another 21%, shopping 19.8%, and transport within the city close to 13%. In May, by contrast, shopping had come to account for a quarter of the budget.

Hotels remain the most common form of accommodation, but they no longer alone explain the city's tourism activity. In July, close to 53% of travellers chose them; 15.3% stayed in tourist-use homes, 13.7% in youth hostels and another 15.3% in private homes. In March, when major conferences and business trips carried more weight, hotels accounted for around 67%.

Figures by nationality require another clarification: the available records on origin refer to tourists staying in hotels, not the total of 9.68 million. In that segment, residents in Spain exceeded 965,000 by July, 8.4% more, while Americans approached 789,000 and grew by 11.3%. Markets with the strongest increases include China, with around 174,400 hotel travellers and a 30% rise, and Brazil, with 20% more.

Tourism growth is also apparent at the main gateways, although their statistics should not be confused with the number of tourists in Barcelona either. Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport accumulated 34.24 million passengers by July, 4.6% more, according to Aena. These are airport passengers — including residents, stopovers and other journeys — rather than a figure for visitors to the city.

A similar distinction is needed for cruises. The Port de Barcelona recorded around 2.3 million cruise passenger movements between January and July, but estimates that around 1.3 million cruise passengers actually visited Barcelona. The difference is due, among other factors, to the fact that port statistics record embarkations, disembarkations and passengers in transit.

The travel profile also helps explain the monthly changes. In June and July, leisure accounted for around 74% of the journeys analysed, while March was the only month in the period in which business tourism was in the majority, at 50.2%. Cultural visits remain the most widespread activity, followed by the beach and shopping, and Barcelona's average rating remains at 8.7 out of 10.

The August report will make it possible to see whether the sharp increase in spending recorded in July continues during the second major month of the summer season and to what extent Barcelona ends 2026 growing more through each visitor's spending than through the volume of tourists.