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Foreign tourists flock to Murcia despite Spanish visitor slump
Ireland is leading the huge surge in overseas visitors while Spanish tourist numbers have dropped by a quarter
The Region of Murcia continues to attract more and more international visitors, with several key markets such as Germany and Ireland showing impressive growth, even as domestic tourism faces temporary headwinds.
According to the latest figures, international tourism to Murcia is on the up and up, with Ireland leading the way with 31.5% more visitors bringing 5,508 tourists in June compared to 4,190 in 2024.
Germany also saw growth of 7.7% to 9,219 people and Morocco was up 7.3% with 5,970 visitors.
The UK stayed top of the list with 24,683 tourists in June, down just 2.7%. France came second with 11,748 visitors.
Unfortunately though, it seems that Spanish tourists are staying away. The National Institute of Statistics (INE) reported that 95,000 fewer domestic travellers visited in July compared to last year. That's a 25.5% drop from other Spanish regions, with northern areas down 36%.
The INE uses mobile phone data to track where people go, looking at phone connections to work out overnight stays both in hotels and private rentals.
Neighbouring Valencia usually sends the most Spanish tourists to Murcia each summer, but this July saw nearly 33,000 fewer visitors, down 29.7% from 111,172 to 78,200. Madrid was next with 28,608 fewer people, down 27.7%. Andalucía dropped 20% to 51,632 tourists.
The north of Spain saw the biggest percentage falls. The Basque Country dropped 47.5%, Navarra fell 38.2%, Catalonia was down 37.3%, Cantabria fell 33.5%, La Rioja dropped 30.6% and Galicia was down 20.8%.
Girona province had the worst drop at 68.1%, going from 2,955 tourists to 942. Álava was close behind at 67.4%. Barcelona sent 14,134 visitors last July but only 9,302 this year.
Hotel bookings tell a different story though. Only 164,923 people from other regions stayed in official hotels in July, which was just 2,215 fewer than last year. That's only down 1.3%.
The Regional Tourism Ministry isn't convinced that the mobile phone data is right. The Regional Tourism Institute (ITREM) says there are "significant inconsistencies" when you compare it to other official INE data.
ITREM points out that "according to these experimental statistics, by July 2025, 54.9% of tourists would have stayed in regulated establishments, a figure much higher than that reflected in the INE's own Resident Tourism Survey (43.8% in July 2024 and 37.3% in 2019)."
The institute also says "while regulated accommodation will increase by 11.1% in July 2025 compared to 2024, accommodation in owned, rented or leased homes will fall by 40.2%, an unlikely trend that points to methodological limitations."
Because of these problems, ITREM says it will focus on the official annual tourism data instead, which it believes gives a more accurate picture of what's really happening with tourism in Murcia.
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Image: Archive
