The arrival of tourists by air is partly to blame for rising rents and house prices across Europe, but particularly in Spain. That is the argument put forward in a study by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), commissioned by the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), and already backed by platforms campaigning against property speculation, which denounce the problems linked to short-term rentals and the purchase of housing by foreign buyers.
According to the analysis (source in Spanish) carried out, between 2019 and 2025 there is a clear correlation between the rise in air tourists in seven European countries, especially in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, and the increase in rents and house prices. The reverse is also true, T&E argues: in those countries where this type of tourism has fallen (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland), house prices have also dropped, albeit moderately.
In Spain specifically, the 12.8% increase in tourists arriving by air over the past seven years is estimated to have been responsible for an average rise of 3,800 euros in purchase prices and up to 236 euros more (1.7%) on rental prices. Rents could, moreover, go up by a further 217 euros between now and 2031 as a result of this factor.
