Spain Top Destinations - Best Places to visit in Spain

Top Destinations in Spain

Best Places to visit in Spain

Book Hotels in the Most Visited Places, Cities, Towns, Airports, Places of Interest, Tourist Regions,Archaeological Sites, Religious Sites, National Parks and more in Spain.

Tourism in Spain

Tourism in Spain is a major contributor to the national economic life, contributing about 11% of Spain's GDP. Ever since the 1960s and 1970s, the country has been a popular destination for summer holidays, especially with large numbers of tourists from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux, among others. Accordingly, Spain's foreign tourist industry has grown into the second-biggest in the world.

By 2015 Spain was the third most visited country in the world, recording 68.1 million tourists, which marked the third consecutive year of record-beating numbers. Spain ranks first among 141 countries in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index published by the World Economic Forum in 2015. The World Tourism Organization has its headquarters in Madrid.

As a crossroads of several civilizations, Spain offers a number of historical cities and towns. Major destinations include Spain's two largest cities: Madrid and Barcelona, which stand as two of the leading city destinations in Europe. Both offer a matchless number of attractions and their importance in commerce, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science, sports and arts contribute to their status as two of the world's major global cities. Thirteen Spanish cities have been declared World Heritage Cities by the UNESCO: Alcalá de Henares, Ávila, Cáceres, Córdoba, Cuenca, Ibiza, Mérida, Salamanca, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Santiago de Compostela, Segovia, Tarragona and Toledo.

Summer Resorts and Beaches

The mild climate during the whole year and the extensive sandy beaches of the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean as well as of its two archipelagoes (the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands respectively) have been attracting tourists from Northern Europe for decades. 

The leading source markets of Spanish beach tourism are the UK (around 24% of the total arrivals in Spain in recent years), Germany and France (around 15-16% each), followed by Scandinavia and Italy (around 7% each) and the Netherlands (around 5%).

The most popular Spanish mainland coasts are on its Mediterranean side, and include, from north to south clockwise:

The Costa Brava, the Costa Daurada and the Costa del Maresme, in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, very popular with visitors from France as well as inland Spain, with notable resorts like Salou and the city of Barcelona.

The Costa Blanca, (one of the most developed coastal areas of Spain, extremely popular for tourists from the United Kingdom and Germany, with Benidorm as the leading summer city of Spain) and the Costa del Azahar are both in the Valencian Community.

The Costa Cálida in the Region of Murcia and the Mar Menor, a lagoon by the Mediterranean sea.

The Costa de Almería, the Costa Tropical, the Costa del Sol and the Costa de la Luz, all in the community of Andalusia. Some of the summer destinations here are renowned worldwide, such as Marbella in Málaga Province or Sotogrande in Cádiz province, both destinations for tourists and summer residents with big purchasing power. The city of Málaga is a notable Costa del Sol destination and one of the largest harbours in Spain and frequented by cruise ships.

Spain's two archipelagoes, the Balearic Islands off the mainland coast in the Mediterranean and the volcanic Canary Islands in the Atlantic, are also both very popular destinations with Spaniards and Europeans.

In addition to the summer tourism, other modalities like cultural and monumental tourism congresses, sport or fun tourism have been developed in these areas, including such famous cities as Barcelona and Valencia, the biggest harbours of the Spanish Mediterranean coast.

Many coastal or island places also have great ecological and natural importance. Theme Parks like PortAventura, Terra Mítica or diverse water-fun parks are also popular.

Travel Promotions to Spain