Costa del Sol prepares to shine at Fitur travel fair in Madrid to win back Spanish tourists
The destination has lost almost 7% of its share of the domestic market over the last two years
The Costa del Sol is preparing to take part in the 46th international tourism fair (Fitur) in Madrid, which will be held between 21 and 25 January. The main objective of coastal Malaga province this year is to convince Spanish tourists to choose the destination again.
President of Turismo Costa del Sol Francisco Salado has said that, over the last two years, the destination has lost almost 7% of its share in the national market: from 44% of all tourists on the Costa del Sol coming from within Spain in 2023, to 40.1% in 2024 and to 37.6% in 2025. Although 2025 closed with unprecedented indicators in terms of tourist arrivals and revenue, Salado said that they need to win back Spanish visitors.
Salado said that an estimated 5,505,000 national tourists arrived in the province in 2025, which implies a decrease of 5.1% compared to 2024. According to him, this can be attributed to the lower purchasing power of Spanish families in the context of inflation. The Spanish tourists who visited the province generated an economic impact of close to 6.37 billion euros, which is 1.3% less than in 2024.
"Note that the average income generated by Spanish tourists is much lower than that of international tourists because, although they represent 37.6% of the tourists who come, they only account for 29.2% of the total economic impact," Salado said. He added that 2.7 million national visitors had stayed in hotels, flats, rural houses and campsites in the province, generating seven million overnight stays, lower than in 2024.
Salado said that tourists with lower purchasing power are looking for alternatives due to the higher costs of hotels, especially since the current trend in the sector is to attract visitors who can generate higher income. The Turismo Costa del Sol president, however, believes that this strategy also benefits the destination. "We don't have to worry because the figures for 2025 have been historic," he said.
To win back Spanish tourists, however, the Costa del Sol has prepared specific proposals for its appearance at Fitur. The total investment in this trip to Madrid and the activities and initiatives linked to it is 400,000 euros. Costa del Sol will be accompanied by some 200 companies at the Andalusian stand.
"We land in Madrid with some 600 professionals, 60 municipal government teams and an agenda with 70 presentations and more than 50 professional meetings," he said. The spotlight will be on Malaga on 21 January, when the destination is going to advertise the "endless experiences" it offers at the Las Ventas bullring.
This year's Fitur budget is less than that of 2025, which amounted to 600,000, because Turismo Costa del Sol has planned to deploy more campaigns throughout the whole year.
400,000
euros is the investment that Costa del Sol tourism has earmarked for its display at Fitur
The Costa del Sol has also prepared a campaign that is going to be launched at "the most important spots of the capital". "We are going to Fitur to recover our figures in the national market, with actions focused on higher quality tourism and tourists who stay longer and spend more," Salado said.
The campaign is expected to generate over 39,000 displays and 26.4 million impressions between 19 and 25 January. "We are going to take over Madrid's Gran Vía with images and a new commercial on giant digital screens on the main advertising spaces between Plaza de España and Plaza de Callao, including El Corte Inglés, the Lope de Vega theatre, FNAC, Coliseum, Capitol, Callao cinemas, Palacio de la Prensa, Rialto and others. In total, 31 digital screens will showcase the diversity of the Costa del Sol's tourist offerings," Salado stated.
According to Salado, the decrease in Spanish visitors in the Costa del Sol is not due to a lack of satisfaction or quality, but because "the recovery of purchasing power of Spanish families is much slower than in the rest of Europe". For this reason, Malaga's presence at Fitur is a necessity for the destination's tourism economy, especially given that the year has started with good prospects, reflected in the figures that show how many Spanish residents have searched flight tickets to the Costa del Sol "between 1 September and 30 December" for holidays "between 1 January and 30 April 2026". In this period, 6,983,716 searches were recorded, which is 34.3% more than in the same period last year.
