If someone believed that national tourism had entered “crisis” this summer, Aena has something to say: at all

If Google and Deloitte give in the nail, in a few years Spain will be the great resort of the world. According to Your calculations In 2040 the country will receive around 110 million foreign visitors, even exceeding France or the US. Until then every summer is a fire test for national tourism. This in particular there are voices that already suggest A slowdown in destinations as relevant as Tenerife wave Costa del Sol. There is still a lot of campaign ahead to know if it will be so, but for now AENA’s data show a quite different photo.

What suggests His July balance It is a record summer.

What happened? That Aena has just published A balance of passengers that are especially interesting for two reasons. The first, because it offers us the ‘photo’ of July, the first strong month of the summer campaign. The second reason is that these figures point to a considerable increase in displacements, which clashes with The voices that over the last weeks They have detected signals of weakening in Spanish tourism, at least In certain regions.

Aena’s report does not differentiate between those who move for vacations or other reasons, such as work, studies or to visit relatives. Nor does it distinguish between national and foreign passengers. In any case, another interesting approach provides to take the temperature to the tourism sector in July.

What do the data say? That July 2025 was a month of record. The network of terminals managed by AENA on Spanish soil accounted for 32.76 million of travelers. The number of flights amounted to 268,034. They are, respectively, 2.7% and 3.1% more than during the same period of 2024 and mark a milestone in the historical registry of the group. “Passenger and operations figures represent an absolute monthly record, which makes last July the best month in history at the airports of the Aena network in Spain,” concrete The operator.

Is there more data? Yes. In the report AENA does not detail why users, their destinations fly or if they are national or foreign travelers, but it does require how traffic has evolved in their airports. At the head in absolute terms, Barajas is located, in Madrid, with 6.17 million travelers in July. The most interesting thing, however, are not the total figures of users, but how they have evolved compared to July 2024, a record year For Spanish tourism.

He passenger flow Barajas for example grew 0.6% and Barcelona-the Prat 2.9%. In general, the airports of the country’s main tourist destinations experienced an increase in activity in July. In that of Malaga-Costa del Sol, the flow of travelers shot 7.8%, in Alicante 5.9%, in Ibiza 0.9%, in Gran Canaria 6.4%, in Tenerife South 1.4%and in Tenerife North 8.6%.

Of course not everyone grew. ‘Palma’s airfield, where the passenger transfer fell 0.1%, Santiago, who suffered a 12.4%cut, or Santander and Vigo, which scored setbacks of 0.6%and 6.5%, respectively.

Are they high data? Yes. Both in fact that some terminals have pulverized their historical maximums. “During the past month there has been an absolute record of passengers at the airports of Barajas, El Prat, Malaga-Costa del Sol, Alicante, Valencia, Bilbao and Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de la Laguna”, They clarify from Aenawhich also specifies that there are 16 airfields that have registered their best July.

Why is it important? For several reasons. The main one because in summer a good part of the displacements are by leisure, which gives us another brushstroke to understand how the tourist season marches. The second reason is that Aena’s figures collide in part with others Shared by the hoteliers that suggest a summer with less activity and income than in 2024.

The Association of Hotel Entrepreneurs of the Costa del Sol (AEHCOS) I noticed recently That July occupation levels were very similar to those of 2024 (87.82%, 1.16% above last year) but came accompanied by less income: the gross impact per customer fell according to their calculations from 198.61 to 157.18 euros. Facing August, the group expects the average occupation to be 4.57 percentage points lower than that of 2024, so it would stay at 88.32%.

Are there more falls? Yes. The one on the Costa del Sol is not the only message that points to a less generous summer campaign than that of 2024. The Tenerife press It echoed These days that the establishments integrated in Ashotel closed Julio with an average occupancy level of 81.97% in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

It is a high percentage that also improves the forecast of reservations that hoteliers handled in mid -June, but still almost two percentage points below July 2024. In Palma de Mallorca the employer speaks Not so much a fall in the flow of tourists as if of the spending in hospitality.

What is the conclusion? Touch wait. Soon the INE will publish another interesting clue to take the temperature of the tourist campaign: its statistics of Hotel situation. At the moment the last available data, of June, reflects a 2.1% increase in overnight stays and an increase in both the occupancy level and, above all, in the rates. Waiting for the tourist balance to be outlined and knowing if Spain will finally reach this year the milestone of the 100 million tourists foreigners, there are some clear trends.

The main is that the Spanish sector grows largely thanks to the flow of foreign visitors. Aena’s data does not allow to know if July passengers are Spanish or travelers from other countries, but we know that in 2024 foreign demand played A fundamental role In the balance of hotels. 7.5% grew while the one starring Spaniards stagnated, coinciding with The increase accelerated rates. Another trend is that the flow of tourists diversifies and looks every time With greater interest The northern zone.

Images | John Oswald (UNSPLASH) and Carlos Coronado (UNSPLASH)

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