Spain’s Imserso travel program for pensioners is nearing a breaking point. Hotel associations in major tourist areas say current rates make participation impossible without losing money. For 2026, nearly 4.6 million people have applied for just under 880,000 subsidized spots, yet frustration is growing among the hotels the scheme was meant to help.
Hotels receive between 24.5 and 27 euros per guest per day, depending on location. Industry groups say that does not cover the real cost of full-board stays, especially after the pandemic and with energy and food prices rising. In Benidorm, closely tied to Imserso since 1985, the local hotel association HOSBEC wants a minimum of 35 euros plus VAT per person per day. The current offer of 26 to 30 euros, it says, means operating at a loss.
"The official Imserso program for 2026-2027 includes 879,213 places, with 7,447 reserved at a fixed price of 50 euros for pensioners with low incomes."
Official program data
“No hotel working with Imserso does it to make money,” says Eduard Farriol of the Confederación Española de Hoteles y Alojamientos (Cehat). Many hotels have stayed in the program for decades to keep staff employed during the low season. But costs have risen more than 30% in recent years, prompting some to question whether they can continue. HOSBEC estimates that a mass exit could put over 15,000 jobs at risk in the Valencian Community alone. Hotel revenue could fall by 100 million euros, with another 50 million euros in related spending also at stake.
The problem isn’t limited to the mainland. In Mallorca, only 8 of the 800 hotels in the local federation remain in the program. The rest have left, saying the rates are outdated and fail to reflect the island’s upgraded hotels. The Canary Islands show a similar trend: just 36 of 256 hotels take part, as the region’s high season now overlaps with Imserso’s travel window and international tourists pay more. Local hoteliers say the program’s original target, pensioners with little travel experience, has changed. Many current users have higher incomes and choose Imserso for its low prices, rather than out of need.
On the Costa del Sol, almost all hotels have left. Fewer than five are expected to participate, as international visitors drawn by golf and cultural tourism now fill the off-season. Patricio Gutiérrez of the local hotel association Aehcos says Imserso is a social program, but it should at least let hotels break even. He estimates rates would need to rise by 30% to 50% to make participation worthwhile.
"Information from Cadena SER, only 10 hotels in Castellón are participating in the Imserso launch for 2026-2027, a drop attributed directly to the program's low profitability for hoteliers. This regional decline reflects a broader trend, as industry leaders like Federico Fuster of HOSBEC warn that current daily rates of 26-27 euros per person make continued participation economically unviable."
Cadena SER
Imserso was created to promote active aging among pensioners and sustain tourism jobs during the off-season. But Spain’s tourism calendar has changed, with shorter low seasons and more international demand, and the program’s impact has faded. Some hoteliers now see Imserso as a way for the government to save on unemployment benefits while collecting more in taxes. They cite a University of Alicante study that says the state gets back 1.66 euros for every euro spent.
Despite the criticism, the program remains popular with pensioners, and demand far exceeds supply. Beneficiaries pay between 309 and 409 euros for a trip, much less than market rates. As more hotels leave, places such as Guardamar and Torrevieja could see far fewer off-season visitors. The same risk reaches Peñíscola and Calpe, then Gandía and even Benidorm. Fewer hotels mean fewer jobs. Local spending could fall, weakening support for Spain’s tourism workforce.
The government has acted boldly in other areas, such as the recent border investigation, but it has not addressed hotels’ basic financial complaints about Imserso. Unless rates rise to match real costs, the program’s future as a source of off-season tourism support is in doubt. Benidorm shows a system out of step with today’s market; the same pressures are evident in Mallorca and the Canary Islands. To keep Imserso going, policymakers will need to address the hotel sector’s concerns and balance social goals with economic realities.
