Southern Europe is definitely a heavy hitter when it comes to international tourism. The region includes countries like Portugal, Greece, Italy, and even the south of France. If you had to put together a list of all star dream destinations, these names would definitely be on it, as would Spain. For many people, Spain is at the top of the list for Southern Europe travel, even though the country itself seems less and less interested in maintaining that title.
Recent research shows that one third of people planning trips to Southern Europe are heading for Spain. It's not hard to understand why given the food, the history, and the architectural and natural beauty that's pretty much everywhere. Travel to Spain has been increasing dramatically since the end of the pandemic and research like this only confirms that international travelers remain dedicated to vacationing there. It's the Spanish who might not be so happy about that.
Anti-tourist sentiments are becoming increasingly prevalent in the country, particularly in heavily urbanized areas like Barcelona. Throngs of tourists and and an increasing number of services catering to them, such as Airbnb, have caused a massive increase in the cost of living and forced locals out of their own neighborhoods. The local, state, and federal governments are all implementing rules and restrictions targeting tourists to try an mitigate this.
As these findings show, such measures have not impacted the plans of international travelers quite yet. To be fair, that will take time. And it's not that Spain doesn't want tourists. The goal is to balance the needs of locals with the wants of travelers to make sure that the growth of tourism in the region is both equitable and fair to everyone involved.