Spain welcomed 10.1 million international tourists in September 2026, a record for the month, as visitor spending climbed even faster than arrivals, according to figures from Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE).

The INE data, published on 4 November, show 10,139,650 international tourists arrived in September, up 4.3% on the same month in 2025. Spending by those visitors rose 8.1% to €14.49 billion, the highest September total since the institute began keeping the statistics.

Spending grows faster than arrivals

The average visitor spent €1,429 during their trip, up 3.6% year on year, or €212 a day, up 4%. The most common length of stay was between four and seven nights, accounting for more than 5.1 million visitors, up 7.8% on a year earlier.

The September figures capped a record first nine months of 2026. Between January and September, Spain received 80,502,143 international tourists, up 5.2% on the same period in 2025, while spending reached €114.38 billion, up 8%. The INE counts overnight international tourists in its headline arrival total, excluding day visitors and transit passengers.

The figures put Spain on course for a possible first year above 100 million international tourist arrivals, a threshold only one other country has crossed. The World Travel and Tourism Council projects that Spain's travel and tourism sector will contribute more than €269 billion to the national economy in 2026.

Britain leads the way

The United Kingdom remained Spain's largest source market by a wide margin. More than 2.2 million British travellers visited in September, up 7.2% on a year earlier, and spent €2.79 billion, up 9.1%. Across the first nine months of the year, Britain supplied more than 16.15 million visitors, up 5.6%.

Germany was second, with around 1.3 million visitors in September, down 4.7%, and spending of €1.68 billion, down 0.2%. France supplied about one million tourists, down 1.5%, although French spending rose 6.5% to €1 billion.

Long-haul markets grew fastest. Visitors from the United States rose 16.7% in September to about 534,864, taking the nine-month total to 3.89 million, up 12.2%. Italy was the country showing the strongest growth in spending, up 8.7% year on year, with about 527,555 Italian visitors in September. Portugal contributed 335,984 visitors in September, up 2.3%, and 2.91 million across the first nine months, up 5.3%.

Balearics and Catalonia lead the regions

The Balearic Islands were the top destination in September, accounting for 21.6% of arrivals, followed by Catalonia with 20.8% and Andalusia with 15.3%. Catalonia received 2.1 million international tourists in the month, up 4.5%, taking its nine-month total to 16.4 million, a record for the region.

The Valencian Community recorded the strongest growth of any region, with arrivals up 12.1% and international visitor spending up 18.4% in September. In spending terms, the Balearic Islands accounted for 21.4% of the national total, Catalonia 19.1% and Andalusia 14.2%.

The figures are provisional, based on the INE's FRONTUR arrivals survey and EGATUR expenditure survey. They show a tourism economy still growing beyond the traditional June-to-August summer peak, with higher spending per visitor doing much of the work. La Moncloa and Travel and Tour World reported the figures.