The Costa Blanca has broken another tourism record, with an estimated 1.17 million international visitors coming to Alicante province during August.
Both figures represent new highs for the province, with international visitor numbers and spending growing by around 9%.
Foreign visitors remain crucial to the Costa Blanca
The figures underline the importance of overseas tourism to Alicante province, particularly at a time when the domestic Spanish market has proved less buoyant than in previous years.
Across the Valencian Community, 1.7 million international tourists arrived during August.
That brought the total for the first eight months of 2026 to 9.4 million, making the Valencian Community Spain’s fourth most visited region by international tourists.
The amount visitors spend here remains comparatively modest, however.
International tourists spent an average of €1,423 per person in the Valencian Community, down 2.4%. Average daily spending stood at €144.
Both figures remain below the Spanish averages of €1,455 per visitor and €202 per day.
Visitors stay longer in the Valencian Community
What the region loses in daily spending, it partly makes up for in the length of time people stay.
International visitors spent an average of 9.9 days in the Valencian Community, the longest average stay of any region in Spain.
Second homes form an important part of the picture, particularly on the Costa Blanca, where foreign buyers have long played a major role in the property market.
That makes the province’s tourism profile rather different from destinations that depend more heavily on shorter hotel stays.
Spain closes in on €100 billion in tourist spending
The Costa Blanca records form part of another strong year for tourism across Spain.
The country welcomed 70.36 million international tourists between January and August. Together, they spent €99.892 billion, setting new records for both visitor numbers and expenditure.
Spending is also increasing faster than arrivals. Tourist numbers rose 5.4%, while expenditure increased by 8%.
August alone brought 12.25 million international visitors to Spain, 9.2% more than a year earlier. They spent €17.838 billion during the month, also an increase of 9.2%.
Average spending per visitor remained at €1,455, while daily expenditure increased 1.9% to €202 as average stays became slightly shorter.
British visitors still lead the way
The UK remains comfortably Spain’s biggest international tourism market.
Almost 14 million visitors arrived from the UK during the first eight months of 2026, an increase of 5.4% compared with the same period last year.
France was the second-largest market with 9.3 million visitors, followed by Germany with 8.2 million.
Hotels remain the most common choice of accommodation. Around 45.5 million of the 70.36 million international tourists who visited Spain between January and August stayed in hotels.
Another 12.6 million stayed in their own properties or with family and friends, a category particularly relevant to destinations with large numbers of foreign-owned homes such as the Costa Blanca.
Bridging the Gap’s recap
- Alicante province welcomed an estimated 1.17 million international tourists in August.
- They spent a record €1.674 billion during the month.
- Visitor numbers and spending both grew by around 9%.
- The Valencian Community welcomed 9.4 million international tourists between January and August.
- Visitors stayed an average of 9.9 days in the region, the longest average stay in Spain.
- Spain welcomed 70.36 million international tourists during the first eight months of 2026.
- Their spending reached almost €100 billion.
- The UK remained Spain’s largest international tourism market, with almost 14 million visitors.
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