Spain is expected to break new tourism records this summer, but one in three residents cannot afford to spend a week away from home on holiday.
Between June and September, the country expects to receive around 43 million international tourists, 6% more than in the same period of 2025, with spending close to 64 billion euros, according to Turespaña's forecasts, the agency under the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
The contrast is highlighted by the 2025 Living Conditions Survey from the National Statistics Institute (INE): 32.2% of the population could not afford to go away from home on holiday for at least one week a year. Although the percentage fell by 1.2 points compared with 2024, taking a break remains out of reach for a considerable share of Spanish households.
Speaking to Euronews, Ileana Izverniceanu, Communications Director at the Spanish Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU), warns that this situation cannot be explained only by the rising cost of travel. "The fact that one in three Spaniards cannot go on holiday this summer is not an isolated event, but the reflection of an economic reality that OCU has been observing for years," she says.
According to the organisation's holiday survey, 27% of Spaniards say they will not go on holiday and a further 8% still do not know whether they will be able to, something Izverniceanu sees as "a clear sign of the economic uncertainty many households are experiencing".
