We are an unstoppable country and that makes us vulnerable. According to data from airport operator Aena, Spanish airports have moved closer 29.5 million passengers in October 2025a figure which demonstrates the recovery of national and international tourism. Our unusual mobility confirms an uncomfortable fact: this growth brings jobs, investments and an energy that enlivens the streets and businesses, but Each wave of visitors reminds us that this model has physical, social and ecological limits.
We cannot continue to depend on a volume that requires more resources than it provides. Spain has lived for decades on the sun and the beach, an effective and fragile combination. Today, other emerging destinations offer the same thing at a lower cost, and the price battle is still lost. To compete downward is to sink into a tourism that destroys neighborhoods, makes housing more expensive and transforms centers into mere decorations. A strategy which precarizes the sector and devalues experience.
The only reasonable way out is to look up. Cultural tourism, supported by travelers seeking knowledge, heritage, gastronomy, visual arts and experiences The more we take care of it, the more income we generate, we distribute profits better and we impose less pressure on the environment. Spain has museums, archives, literature, historic towns and itineraries capable of attracting those who value authenticity and pay to get it. It has many attractions in sport, music and gastronomy.
It remains to be explained, protected and projected with ambition, so that the country does not depend on filling the beaches at all costs and so that cities expel their inhabitants like garbage is swept under the carpet. The challenge is to diversify without losing its identity: transform quantitative success into qualitative solidity. Bet on a visitor who does not measure his stay in promotions, but in discoveries, and step into a future that is less volatile, less crowded, and much smarter.
About The Author
