A holiday twist. Spain is getting ready for a siege of tourists

The Spanish tourism sector is expecting an influx of tourists due to the conflict in the Middle East, the daily El Pais reported on Friday. This year, over 100 million foreign guests may visit Spain for the first time.

Tourism is beginning to feel the effects of the American-Israeli attack on Iran and the Iranian shelling of countries in the region, the newspaper noted. She added that more and more people are starting to cancel flights to countries such as Egypt or Jordan, which are located close to the conflict.

– Currently, we can see greater interest in the short term in Mediterranean countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy – said a spokesman for the travel company TUI in an interview with El Pais.

The owner of hotels in the Canary Islands quoted by the daily expects that in the coming weeks, tourists who were previously planning holidays in Egypt or Turkey will move to the islands of the Spanish archipelago.

According to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), a record 1.5 billion travelers were recorded worldwide in 2025. The most visited country in the world was France with 105 million foreign visitors; Spain was right behind with 97 million tourists.

In mid-January, Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu estimated that in 2026 Spain will probably finally exceed the threshold of 100 million visitors from abroad.

The tourism sector in Spain is responsible for approximately 15%. GDP.

From Madrid Marcin Furdyna (PAP)

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