What to Know About Touring to Spain Summer time 2025

When folks consider European Summers, numerous the photographs that pop up are most likely scenes from Spain. The Gaudi structure, seaside villages, rolling hills, Mediterranean waters, quiet cobblestone streets—all of it may be present in Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Granada, Córdoba, Girona, Ibiza, and numerous different cities throughout the nation. However with everybody dreaming of Spain, it means the nation is a well-liked vacation spot for lots of people. Like, an entire, complete lot of individuals.

In response to the most up-to-date knowledge, Spain has already had 17 million guests within the first quarter of 2025 alone. That’s a 5.7 % improve in guests in comparison with final yr, and is the busiest yr for guests to the nation in recorded historical past. When accounting for Spain’s inhabitants of slightly below 50 million folks, it may be simple to see how such a excessive quantity of holiday makers might overwhelm.

That knowledge doesn’t even account for the busiest summer season journey months proper across the nook. And whereas a rise in tourism is likely to be good for some locations, that hasn’t been the case for Spain lately. In cities like Barcelona, locals have outright rejected the inflow of holiday makers, going as far as to pour water on eating vacationers and mass protests.

There’s already been just a few points to pay attention to this yr. Within the final days of April 2025, a energy outage impacted transit, hospitals, and all the pieces else in Spain, France, and Portugal. On Could 5, cable thefts on main prepare traces induced delays for hundreds of individuals. Canada issued a journey advisory this week for the nation, warning vacationers to train a excessive diploma of warning resulting from an elevated risk of terrorism. The U.S. issued an analogous Stage 2 warning associated to the specter of terrorism and civil unrest again in December 2024.

Given all of this info, it might probably really feel past intimidating to maneuver forward along with your booked journey to Spain this summer season. Right here’s what to know earlier than you go, together with tips about avoiding the foremost crowds.

E-book upfront

Think about reserving your journey for one more season. At this cut-off date, the costs might be too excessive and the provision might be sparse. However, if you happen to’ve already acquired your tickets and your lodge reservations, be sure to’ve acquired reservations for eating places, excursions, transport, and museums earlier than your toes ever contact the bottom.

Put together for the crowds

If you will one among Spain’s extra well-liked cities, there might be crowds. Making reservations and bookings upfront can assist, however that received’t spare you from the entire chaos. One nice possibility is to think about taking a day journey to smaller, much less well-liked locations throughout your go to. (T+L has suggestions on hidden gem wine areas and ignored locales bursting with Michelin starred eating places.) Spots like Barcelona and Madrid don’t need to be completely unmanageable. We’ve acquired a information to visiting Barcelona in any season and tips about the greatest issues to see and do whereas in Madrid.

Journey responsibly

It is going to be sizzling, it is going to be crowded, and it is potential your expectations received’t dwell as much as actuality—transit points and protests can pop up at any time, as we’ve already seen this yr. Be sure to maintain your wits about you in order to not make any journey woes flip into true nightmares. Preserve all of your valuables packed away safely, make a practical finances, keep road sensible, examine your authorities’s journey advisories earlier than departure, drink loads of water, put on sunscreen, and act with grace in the direction of locals and anybody offering you with a service.