194,730 Irish visits to Spain in March, 57pc ahead of pre-pandemic

194,730 Irish visits to Spain, 57pc ahead of pre-pandemic
Ireland highest rate of increase of major markets
Spain received 6.8m international tourists in March.
The first three months of 2026 saw over 17.5m arrivals.
Market accommodation increased by 6.1pc.
Canarias led destinations with 1.56m visitors in March.
Stays of four to seven nights rose by 4.1pc.

Spain recorded 194,730 visits from Ireland in March, up 18.6pc on March 2025 and 56.5pc ahead of pre-pandemic. Rolling annual was 2,929,429, which is 13.6pc ahead of the twelve months to March 2025. Ireland has the highest rate of increase of any major inbound market to Spain.

Overall, Spain received 6.8m international tourists in March. The figure shows a 3.3pc increase compared with the same month of 2025. Cumulative data for the first three months of 2026 indicates growth of 2.5pc with total arrivals over 17.5m.

England led source markets with nearly 3.2m visitors and a 2.3pc rise. Germany followed with almost 2.1m and a 1.2pc increase while France recorded more than 2.0m and a 5.9pc decrease. Market accommodation use grew by 6.1pc with hotel stays up 9.1pc. Stays of four to seven nights reached nearly 3.4m and rose 4.1pc.

Canarias attracted the highest share at 22.9pc of March arrivals with a 0.4pc increase. Cataluña saw a 5.4pc decline and Andalucía posted a 10.8pc gain. In the three-month period Canarias welcomed 4.5m visitors with a 2.8pc rise.

It follows a record February when 158,271 Irish visited Spain, 8.3pc ahead of February 2025 and 73.8pc ahead of pre-pandemic. Rolling annual was 3,074,343, up 20.2pc on the twelve months to February 2025.