Spain is on course to welcome 100 million international visitors this year, but amid concerns over mass tourism, the country is rethinking how it manages continued growth.
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In a presentation at Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, Carlos Ruiz González, director of the Spanish Tourist Office for the Gulf region at Turespaña, outlined how Spain’s Tourism 2030 plan will put people and sustainability at the centre of its next phase of growth – with residents and lesser-visited destinations a key focus.
Developed in consultation with more than 200 tourism experts, businesses, government bodies and other organisations, the plan recognises that destinations across Spain face very different challenges. These range from mature coastal resorts and heavily visited cities such as Barcelona to rural and inland areas looking to attract more tourists.
Spain, the world’s second-most visited country, welcomed 96.8 million international tourists in 2025, while tourism accounts for 12.6% of the country’s GDP and supports around three million jobs.
Visitor numbers are continuing to rise in 2026, but the government is increasingly looking beyond arrivals as it considers how to manage growth and reduce pressure on destinations facing overcrowding.
“For the last few years, our government has been thinking about what we should do to manage this success,” Ruiz González said. “We have some destinations that are dying of success, I would say. Well, we have a big country, a diverse country.
“So, the government of Spain decided this has to be a full government policy, a country policy, and not just tourism. All the ministries, all the sectors in Spain are aligned.”
How does Spain plan to make tourism more sustainable?
Devised with a three-phase roadmap, which will be delivered through a series of two-year action plans, Spain Tourism 2030 is a government-wide policy covering economic, social and environmental sustainability.
According to Ruiz González, the main challenges range from climate change and employment to housing pressures, overcrowding and regional depopulation.
Recognised as a “core audience”, but “not a side effect of it”, residents are one of five groups at the centre of the new strategy, alongside destinations, businesses, tourism workers, and visitors.
“We want the residents also to be part of the system,” Ruiz González said. “Tourists go where people live, so people need to keep living and be able to afford to buy a house or buy an apartment or just walk in and out without problems.”
Part of the strategy will focus on spreading visitors more widely across Spain, while encouraging slower trips and longer stays.
Where should tourists go to in Spain?
While Spain is not looking to discourage tourists from its most popular destinations, Turespaña wants travellers to explore rural and lesser-visited parts of the country.
“Some destinations don't need much promotion – they are very well known,” Ruiz González said. “Basically, we want people to go more inland in Spain. We also want people to travel slow, to stay as long as possible.”
For travellers interested in nature and hiking, he highlighted the Pyrenees and Picos de Europa, as well as the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, a national park within easy reach of the capital, Madrid.
Ruiz González also highlighted the historic cities and smaller towns of Castilla, while Spain’s extensive high-speed rail network is helping make destinations beyond the established tourism hotspots easier to reach.
“We want all our destinations to be part of the solution,” he said.