Costa del Sol hotels hit record six months with 10.3 million overnight stays

During the first half of the year, the Costa del Sol's hotels registered 10.3 million bookings, according to the hotel bulletin, with data from the national institute of statistics (INE).

Malaga coast's hotels registered a total of 2.2 billion overnight stays by Spanish residents, representing a 6.7% increase compared to the first half of 2025. The report also shows that the number of domestic tourist arrivals increased by 3% during the first half of the year, bringing the total to almost one million Spanish hotel guests.

This increase, as in the case of the number of overnight stays, outpaces the growth and momentum of foreign visitors, who recorded rises of 2.1% and 3.5% in the number of nights booked, exceeding eight million overnight stays for the first time.

Hotels can be proud to have ended the first six months of the year with all positive numbers, with a two-point increase in the average length of stay, which stands at 3.44 days, and a similar rise in average occupancy, which closed at just under 72% of rooms.

All this despite the fact that prices have kept rising. What is more, over the last two years, the decline in the number of Spanish tourists and overnight stays was attributed to this cost pressure, which had reached unprecedented levels.

However, in the first half of this year, the average rate for a night's stay in a hotel in the Costa del Sol has risen by almost 9% to 125.52 euros, ten euros more than in the same period last year.

The statistics show that price rises in the province of Malaga are higher than both the Andalusian and national averages, to the extent that the increase is double that across Andalucía as a whole (4.1%). It exceeds the national figure by almost 3%, with average costs per night of 122 and 111 euros, respectively.

These increases have a direct impact on hotel profitability, which is measured by the RevPar indicator (revenue per available room), which has soared to 92.65 euros, a rise of 14.8%, triple the average increase in Andalucía and more than double the national average.

By market, in addition to the increase in Spanish visitors, there was a notable rise in the number of British visitors (the main source market) totalling 546,723, representing a 3.4% increase; German visitors, with 163,172 tourists (+7.8%); and visitors from Ireland, which ranked as the third-largest source market during this period with 134,329 visitors (+3%).

The number of Irish visitors has overtaken countries that traditionally occupy this position, such as France and the Netherlands, which, despite the current upward trend, are showing negative figures, with falls of 7.4% and 6.1%, respectively. The US market is also in decline, despite the launch of the direct flight between Malaga and New York in May. The same applies to Italy and Belgium.

The report highlights the positive relationship with Poland, with which direct air links have increased over the past year, with almost 24% more Polish visitors staying in Malaga's hotels. Switzerland has also seen a rise of 11.9%. These are the only two markets to have recorded double-digit growth.

The report states that the Costa del Sol is Spain's second-most popular tourist destination in terms of visitor numbers and the third in terms of overnight stays, behind the islands of Mallorca and Tenerife, respectively.

These are record figures, even though June remained at last year's levels. The same report reveals that the number of visitors has risen by a modest 0.1%, driven by a 1.3% increase in Spanish tourists.

Overnight stays have suffered a slight fall of 0.4%, to almost 2.3 million, due to a decline in international demand of more than1%, which has been offset by a 3.4% increase in bookings by Spanish residents. Despite this, hotels achieved an occupancy rate of 83.5%, 2.7% higher than in June 2025.

In Andalucía, the province of Malaga stands out as the destination with the highest number of visitors and overnight stays, far ahead of the runner-up. Overnight stays in hotels across the region rose by 0.8% in June compared with the same month last year, totalling 6,036,991 overnight stays and marking the fourth consecutive month of growth.

The report indicates that 0.56% fewer tourists stayed in the region's hotels in June than in the same month of 2025, totalling 2,022,119 visitors. By nationality, 1,131,148 were Spanish residents, accounting for 55.94%, while 890,971 (44.06%) were foreign nationals.

Compared with the previous year, the number of visitors from within Spain rose by 3.6%, while the number of foreign visitors fell by 5.4%. Domestic visitors accounted for 2,765,360 overnight stays (45.81%), while international visitors generated 3,271,630 overnight stays (54.19%).

Nationwide, during the first six months of 2026, overnight stays rose by 1.8% compared with the same period in 2025. Overnight stays by residents of Spain increased by 1.3%, while those by foreign visitors rose by 2%.

Andalucía, Catalonia and Valencia were the main destinations for residents of the country in June, accounting for 22.4%, 15.4% and 13% of the total number of nights booked, respectively.

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