Air travellers add €236 to average rent in Spain

The influx of tourists arriving by air is partly to blame for the rise in rents and house prices across Europe, but particularly in Spain. That is the argument put forward in a study by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), commissioned by the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), and already backed by platforms campaigning against property speculation, which denounce the problems around short-term rentals and the purchase of homes by foreign buyers.

According to the analysis (source in Spanish), between 2019 and 2025 a correlation can be demonstrated between the increase in tourists travelling by plane in seven European countries, particularly Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, and higher rents and house purchase prices. But the opposite also happens, T&E argues: in those countries where this type of tourism has declined (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland), house prices have also fallen, albeit moderately.

In Spain specifically, a 12.8% increase in air tourists over the past seven years is estimated to have driven an average rise of 3,800 euros in house purchase prices and of up to 236 euros more (1.7%) on rents. Rents could also increase by a further 217 euros between now and 2031 because of this factor.

However, as we recalled in this other analysis of Spain’s housing situation by the Bank of Spain, the study notes that "the impact will vary significantly between cities and regions depending on their tourism demand". In other words, these figures cannot be applied in the same way to central Valencia as to Lugo, for example.

The Bank of Spain’s own study had already pointed to the problems caused by homes designated for tourist or seasonal rentals (around 400,000) or for use as second homes for nationals or foreigners, with an annual average of 50,000 homes purchased. This, however, does not fully explain a problem that has become the biggest barrier to maintaining purchasing power in Spain and in other parts of the world.

The lack of sufficient housing in the country (especially in cities and highly stressed regions), as well as bureaucratic hurdles, overlapping regulations between different levels of government, inadequate urban planning and labour shortages also act as drivers of price increases.

Rising prices and CO2 emissions, but not wages

The new T&E study also points out that both Madrid-Barajas and El Prat in Barcelona are set to overtake Schiphol in Amsterdam in terms of tourist arrivals in the coming years. Barcelona, in particular, plans to expand its terminals with a controversial redevelopment that could affect the La Ricarda wetlands, although the government of Salvador Illa insists the project has been redesigned to ensure this does not happen.

Analysts estimate, using Eurostat data and media reports, that over the past five years there have been 9.2 tourists for every resident in the Balearic Islands, 4.9 for every resident of the Canary Islands and two for every resident of Catalonia, while the European average stands at 0.9. They note that Spain has invested 12.9 billion euros in airport infrastructure at Barajas and El Prat.

They also note that in 2025 Spain and Italy exceeded their pre-COVID-19 aviation emissions, standing 14% and 10% above 2019 levels respectively. The tourism sector, they say, was already responsible for 8.8% of global carbon emissions in 2019.

Moreover, wages and productivity are not rising at the same rate as tourist numbers. In 2023, the study notes, the hospitality sector accounted for 10% of all hours worked in Spain but only 5% of national gross value added, indicating low productivity in the sector. And between 2008 and 2024, real wages in hospitality in Spain recorded a slight decline despite the strong increase in foreign tourist arrivals and the progressive rise in the minimum wage over the past eight years.