Spain's Tourism Sector Hits Record Employment Levels in 2025
Spain's tourism employment reached a record 2.75 million in 2025, driven by growth across hospitality and travel sectors, with strong regional performance.
- • Spain's tourism employment hit a record 2,752,942 affiliations in December 2025, up 2.4% from the previous year.
- • Tourism accounts for 12.7% of total employment in Spain, outpacing the national growth rate.
- • Hospitality sector added 27,602 jobs, mainly in accommodation and food services.
- • Community Valenciana recorded the highest relative tourism job growth at 3.4%.
- • Salaried tourism jobs increased by 2.7%, while self-employment grew more modestly.
Key details
Spain's tourism sector reached an unprecedented employment milestone in December 2025, with 2,752,942 workers affiliated to the industry. This represented a 2.4% increase compared to December 2024, according to data from Turespaña. The growth trend has been continuous since June 2021, with the tourism workforce expanding by 64,334 employees over this period.
Tourism employment accounts for 12.7% of Spain's total workforce and outpaces the overall employment growth rate of 2.3% in the country. Hospitality experienced significant gains, adding 27,602 employees, split between 9,028 in accommodation services and 18,574 in food and beverage. Travel agencies and operators saw workforce increases of 1,038 jobs, while other tourism-related activities added 35,694 employees.
Salaried employment in tourism, which constitutes 81.7% of these jobs, grew by 2.7% year-on-year, with increases in travel agencies (1.3%) and hospitality (1.9%). Accommodation services saw the highest salaried growth at 2.8%. Self-employment in tourism, representing 18.3% of workers, rose by 0.8%.
Regionally, the Community Valenciana led relative growth with a 3.4% rise, whereas Andalucía recorded the largest absolute employment increase. All regions except Extremadura reported growth in tourism jobs.
This surge in tourism employment underscores the sector's expanding role in Spain’s economy, especially amid a broader trend of increasing salaried jobs across the country.
This article was translated and synthesized from Spanish sources, providing English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
