Catalonia faces a sharp fall in domestic tourism, returning to figures seen after the pandemic. Meanwhile, international arrivals, especially in Barcelona, are rising fast. The shift is reshaping the region’s tourism economy.
Catalonia is experiencing a significant reversal in tourism trends, with the number of Spanish visitors falling sharply while international arrivals continue to climb. According to real-time data from the Datur platform, domestic tourism in the region dropped by 13% between 2023 and 2025, bringing figures back to those recorded in 2021, just after the pandemic. The decline has accelerated in the first half of this year, reaching 14%.
In contrast, foreign tourism has shown steady growth since 2021, led by Barcelona, which recorded a 72.3% increase in international visitors over the past five years. The Datur system, developed by BiM Consultors, uses over 11 million mobile phone records from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE Experimental) to track visitor origins and analyze tourism flows. This approach excludes residents from the province being measured, aiming for greater accuracy than traditional methods based on hotel occupancy or tourist office visits.
Between 2021 and 2023, domestic tourism in Catalonia initially rose, peaking at a 31.37% increase in Barcelona and 15% in Girona. However, from 2023 to 2025, the trend reversed: Barcelona saw a 31% drop, Girona and Tarragona fell below post-pandemic levels, and only Lleida managed to attract more Spanish tourists. Meanwhile, international arrivals continued to rise across the region, with Barcelona leading and Lleida seeing the smallest increase at 42.5%.
The economic impact is clear: international tourists tend to spend more, boosting local economies. In 2025, Barcelona hosted 11.2 million overnight visitors, of whom 8.3 million were foreigners and 2.8 million were Spanish. The city is unique in Catalonia for having a much higher share of international than domestic tourists. Most Spanish visitors come from Madrid, other Catalan capitals, the Balearic Islands, and Valencia, but their numbers are falling. They prefer to visit in October, November, and January. Among foreigners, Americans are the largest group, followed by French, British, and Italians. While most international markets are stable or slightly down, arrivals from the USA, Italy, China, and Poland are growing, with the latter three seeing double-digit increases. May, July, and August are the peak months for foreign visitors.
Girona, despite having the lowest total visitor numbers among the four Catalan capitals in 2025, saw the second-highest growth in international tourists since 2021, up 63.9%. The city’s Spanish visitor numbers rose by 15% in 2023 but then dropped by 30% last year, falling below 2021 levels. Most Girona tourists are Spanish, with France, the UK, and the Netherlands as the main foreign markets. Tarragona followed a similar pattern: domestic tourism rose by 15.8% to 2023, then fell by 20.3% last year, while international arrivals more than doubled. Lleida was the only capital to see a notable increase in domestic tourism, up 20.8%.
Municipalities are increasingly turning to data-driven tools like Datur to guide tourism policy. Since its launch last winter, around 15 towns and three counties have adopted the platform, with others in the process. Begur, on the Costa Brava, was among the first to use it, aiming to better target promotional campaigns and understand visitor origins. The creators of Datur highlight this as an example of how digital tools are transforming tourism management in Catalonia.
The shift in visitor profiles is also affecting infrastructure and services. As international tourism grows, challenges such as transport capacity and accommodation demand become more acute. For example, recent reports have highlighted issues with train delays and overcrowding on the Rodalies network, which particularly affect foreign tourists arriving in Barcelona and traveling to coastal destinations. This was detailed in a recent analysis of transport problems facing visitors in Catalonia.
Tourism remains a key sector for the Catalan economy, but the evolving balance between domestic and international visitors is forcing local authorities and businesses to adapt. The reliance on foreign markets brings both opportunities and new vulnerabilities, especially as global travel patterns shift and competition between destinations intensifies. Accurate, real-time data is becoming essential for making informed decisions and maintaining Catalonia’s position as a leading tourist region in Spain.
