Spanish tourism lives a paradox. The sector closed last year with record of foreign travelers, hopes to reach a New historical brand In 2025 and fantasize already to advance France and the US on their way to the top 10 of the most busy destinations in the world, a possibility not crazy according to A report of Google and Deloitte. However, as Spanish tourism is strengthened, less and less Spanish … and more foreign. More travelers from other countries come to hotels, but not local customers, whose flow It has stagnated.
It is not surprising if we take into account a striking fact: in which many already consider “the most expensive holidays in history”, a Spaniard comes out almost so expensive Spend a week of relaxation in Mallorca how to do it in the distant bali.
Travel to Mallorca or Bali? Mallorca is an iconic holiday in Spain. Bali, an exotic destination located 13,000 kilometers from the peninsula. However, and no matter how anti intuitive, this summer a Spanish (especially a little foresee) is almost the same to spend his vacation in any of those two points. We know it thanks to A study recent prepared by Mabrian and released by The country in which two key data are shown: the average price of the plane ticket and the 2025 hotel stay in different places on the planet.
And what does it show? That in the case of Balearic Islands the average cost of the ticket amounts to 142.77 euros and that of the accommodation at 285.72. In total, 428.5 euros. In the case of Bali, the displacement amounts to 238.97 and the hotel to 99.26, which adds 338.23 euros. Mabrian’s study must be taken as that, a simple study, with his biases and weaknesses, but provides a track that coincides with what they have already noticed Other experts: A vacation in the main destinations of the Balearic Islands leave almost, so or even more expensive than in iconic destinations located thousands of kilometers.
Is there more data? Yeah. The data From Mabrian they show that if the average price of the plane ticket is added and that of the stay, most of the destinations analyzed are almost equally expensive (or even cheaper) than the Balearic ‘pack’: in the cycled islands it stays at 489.7, in Sicily 287.6, in the Algarve 375.1 and in Atalya 304.6. In most cases, flights are more expensive than those of the Balearic Islands, but that difference is compensated if the accommodation is fought. In that case Balearic Islands has the second highest price, only behind the cycles, in Greece. The only destination of the analyzed that is triggered is Punta Cana, with 561.6 euros.
Mallorca or Cabo Verde? Mabrian is not the only one who has made accounts. At the beginning of summer Last minute public Some estimates prepared by Pedro Fiol, president of the Aviba Travel Association, which are equally eloquent. According to your calculationsstaying the week from August 12 to 19 in a five -star hotel all included in Playa de Muro (Mallorca), added flights from Madrid and the transfer from the airport to the hotel, leaves approximately 3,780 euros. If Playa de Palma opts for the invoice low to 2,070 per person.
Fiol looked for prices for the same days in other international destinations and discovered something surprising: they leave cheaper. A flight for the same days of Madrid to Punta Cana, more transfers and stay in a hotel of conditions similar to that of Mallorca, costs 2,100 per people. The comparison is even more advantageous if the Cape Verde data is analyzed. In that case, the invoice, applying conditions similar to the previous ones, stays in 1,560. In Thailand, with a four -day trip in Bangkok and many others in Krabi, the cost is 2,400.
But they are just studies, right? Correct. The above are studies and estimates, but a quick search comes to verify that they are not disenchanted. For example, let’s say our boss has just approved a vacation for the week from September 8 to 14, so we open Skyscanner and look for Madrid-Ibiza flights for those days and a person.
What are we found? The cheapest without scales is in 184 euros. If then we are going to Booking and we mark the “hotel” option for a person in Ibiza we find that the most adjusted is a hostel (quarter and shared bath) in which the stay goes to 324 euros. Total: 508. And that for the most economical option. If we return to Skyscanner and look for cheap destinations to travel on the same dates (September 8-14) we find Madrid-Santorini tickets by 393 euros. In Booking for those same dates the most adjusted accommodation, again in a shared bedroom, costs 120 euros. In total: 513 euros.
Both results are very similar. Again it is just an example, punctual and with very specific data, but it helps to understand how the most requested destinations in Spain can cost the same as others located thousands of kilometers.
Does it happen alone in the Balearic Islands? At all. Mabrian’s data show that the sum of the average price of tickets and the hotel on the Costa del Sol exceeds Antalya (Turkey). The same happens if we talk about the Canary Islands, Costa Brava or Costa Blanca. Recently We told you How there are other traditional destinations of Spanish geography, especially island or the Mediterranean, which are almost, so or even more expensive than other popular alternatives abroad.
To check it, destinia compared Recently the fees of the hotels of Gran Canaria, Mallorca, Menorca, Mojácar, Tenerife, Punta Cana, the Riviera Maya and Anatolia applying in all cases the same criteria: stays comparable in August and the same conditions and score. What was found? That there are Spanish destinations in which to travel already comes out as expensive as in Riviera Maya or Punta Cana.
In Menorca for example the rate amounted to 2,726 euros For two people, almost the same as the 2,883 who were charged in Punta Cana. Something very similar happened in Mojácar, Almería, a destination for which you do not even have to get on an airplane: the average price for a week in a four -star hotel with all inclusive ascended to 2,694. In Punta Cana there was only about 200 euros more expensive.
What is the reason? There are several factors at stake. AND Mabrian’s study reflects some. Their calculations show that the average price of flights in the main Spanish coast destinations (Costa del Sol, Brava and Blanca and Baleares) has shot between 10.5% and 62.9% in the last two years. During that same period and in the same points in Spain the cost of hotels has grown on average in a fork that moves between 3.1% and 25.7%.
“The accumulated increase in rates during the last five years in the main holiday destinations in Spain is very important. They rise more than in other countries,” Comment to The country Álex Villeyra, from Mabrian. “The Spaniards are more likely to travel abroad because Spain has increased as destination. And if it comes 30% cheaper to go to Croatia, many go to Croatia. Or to the Caribbean or Mauricio. Even to places like Uzbekistan,” agrees Raúl González, from Barceló Hotel.
Why do prices upload? The IPC tables of the INE show that in Spain the accommodation (hotels, hostels, pensions and similar services) have been remarkable in recent years. The last data, of June, shows a 2.9% riseIn the last year. If we look further back and compare the current prices with those of 2021, however, they accumulate a rise of more than 50% from the pandemic, such as I pointed recently RTVE that started with a devastating sentence: “Hotels cost more than ever.”
Apartments, rural houses and camps have also increased, a scenario to which it is now added hardening of the regulation of tourist rental.
The sector relates That increase in part with the investment made to improve the offer and increase its quality. A recent report De Colliers in fact indicates that the hotels led real estate investment in the first half of the year, with almost 1.8 billion euros, 20% more than only one year ago. The Canary Islands put themselves at the head of that deployment, with almost 650 million euros, 37% of the national total. Throughout the last year, national and international flights have also experienced increases, 11.9% and 3.5%respectively.
More foreigners … and less Spanish. The result is that hotels have seen how the influx of international travelers grows, but It stagnates the flow of tourists from other areas of the country. In 2024 The INE recorded54.3 million travelers resident in Spain and 61.9 foreigners. Two years ago these data were, respectively, 54.7 and 57.3 million. In spring Last minute public A chronicle That helps land those figure and understand them better: the institutes that used to plan their end -of -course trips in the Balearic Islands were looking for new destinations because, simply, the islands have become too expensive.
Images | Calvin Craig (Unplsash), Aron Visuals (UNSPLASH), Eugene Zhyvchik (UNSPLASH)
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