The tourist rental market in Spain continues to grow at a spectacular rate, underlining the country’s attractiveness as a holiday destination. According to recent data from the Spanish Statistics Office (INE), the number of active tourist properties in Spain offered through the three biggest platforms (Airbnb, Booking.com and Vrbo/Expedia) has increased by a whopping 46,253 units in a year. As of February 2024, a total of 351,389 tourism properties were available, accounting for 1.75 million beds. These impressive figures highlight the growing importance of tourist rentals in the Spanish economy.
Data collection via Web Scraping
The INE uses sophisticated web scraping techniques to collect this data. This method involves using special software to collect and analyse data from the three most popular tourist accommodation platforms in Spain. After the raw data is collected, an algorithm is applied to remove duplicates. These are properties offered on multiple platforms. By eliminating these duplicates, the INE can calculate the actual active offer and accurately estimate the total supply of tourist properties in Spain.
Growth and Distribution of the Market
According to the INE’s analysis, a total of 351,389 tourist properties were offered through Airbnb (203,457), Booking.com (89,132) and Vrbo/Expedia (58,800) in February 2024. This represents an increase of 15% compared to last year, representing 46,253 additional tourist properties. The total number of beds in these tourist properties was 1,751,945 in February 2024. This growth highlights Spain’s increasing popularity as a destination for tourists who prefer holiday homes to traditional hotels.
Regional Distribution of Tourist Homes
A significant proportion of tourist properties are in coastal areas and islands (60%), as these regions are very popular with tourists. Yet there is also a significant presence of tourist housing in large cities and inland areas (40%). This shows that tourists are attracted not only by Spain’s beaches and islands, but also by the cultural and historical richness of its interior and cities.
Here is the ranking of Spanish regions (Comunidades Autónomas) with the most tourist properties in February 2024:
- Catalonia: 86,934
- Balearic Islands: 53,215
- Andalusia: 49,871
- Valencian region: 43,782
- Madrid: 27,311
- Canary Islands: 24,602
- Basque region: 10,348
- Murcia: 9,112
- Castile and León: 7,569
- Galicia: 6,928
Implications for the future
The continued growth of the tourist rental market in Spain has several implications. First, it offers an important economic boost, especially in regions heavily dependent on tourism. Second, the growth in the number of tourist properties can contribute to a more diversified tourism sector, with visitors having more choice in their accommodation. This can also lead to a better distribution of tourists across different regions, which can be beneficial for lesser-known areas.
Conclusion
The tourist rental market in Spain is growing at a spectacular rate, making the country even more attractive to tourists and landlords alike. With the INE’s advanced methods of analysing the market, we get an accurate and representative picture of this growing sector. Whether on the coast, on the islands, in the big cities or inland, Spain remains a top destination for tourists from all over the world.
This continued growth bodes well for the future of the Spanish tourism industry and confirms Spain’s status as a world leader in tourism.
