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Although the summer months continue to account for a large part of tourist flows, travel outside the high season is growing more rapidly, especially among Europeans and among Spaniards with medium and high income levels. 

The spread of the coronavirus throughout the world has come as an unprecedented shock to the global economy. The Spanish economy has been particularly hard hit, partly because of its greater dependence on international tourism. In the second half of the year, we expect the economic recovery to take hold thanks to the easing of social distancing measures and the boost provided by the wide range of fiscal and monetary measures adopted. However, we believe the economy will continue to operate below potential over the next few years.

Spain’s agrifood sector is facing a new trade scenario marked by the US tariff hikes, with the rate currently set at 15% for European products pending clarification regarding possible strategic exceptions. In a context of increasing protectionism and weakening multilateralism, the sector is seeking ways to adapt by diversifying its markets and pursuing bilateral agreements through the EU. The agreement with Mercosur opens up opportunities for key products such as olive oil, wine and pork meat, but it also poses risks for competition in sensitive sectors such as beef and rice. Despite this, the competitiveness and diversification of Spain’s agrifood sector places it in a favourable position to tackle this challenging environment.

Spain’s manufacturing has been relatively successful in overcoming the impact of the various exogenous shocks that have shaken the European economic scenario in recent years.

The strong growth of the tourism sector in recent years, together with new consumer habits following the pandemic, has led to an extraordinary recovery of the Spanish restaurant sector, both in terms of job creation and turnover. It has also gained considerable international recognition and prestige, while at the same time playing a fundamental role in our country as a promoter of social and territorial cohesion.

The pharmaceutical industry is a key and strategic sector for Spain’s economy, as was clearly demonstrated by the pandemic. In the past 25 years, the sector has become hugely significant and an important driver of Spanish exports and private R&D investment. Nevertheless, its production capacity still has room for improvement. The future of Spanish industry should be more closely linked to the pharmaceutical sector with a commitment to promote its growth, not only for strategic purposes but also for purely economic reasons, since it is an extremely competitive industry with a great capacity to generate good quality jobs that would help to modernise Spain’s economy.

The retail sector plays a very important role in an eminently service-based economy such as Spain’s, with a larger share compared to other European economies in terms of activity, jobs and number of firms. It is an atomised sector with a considerable number of SMEs and micro-SMEs and is particularly labour-intensive. Moreover, its presence is widespread throughout the length and breadth of our country. All this gives it a certain cohesive role, both from a social and territorial point of view, within the Spanish economy.

According to estimates by CaixaBank Research, Spain has accumulated a housing deficit, now exceeding 730,000 units, as a result of rapid household formation and an insufficient response from new construction. In this article, we review the extent of this mismatch and its impact on recent patterns in house prices, which are showing increasing tension across much of the country. We also observe that the construction of new homes is not accelerating, precisely in the regions where the gap between supply and demand is most pronounced, exacerbating the imbalances and prolonging the pressure on prices. Finally, we examine the factors limiting the recovery of supply (from rising construction costs to regulatory restrictions and the lack of land designated for development, in addition to infrastructure issues) and we anticipate little improvement in the short term in the sector’s capacity to meet current housing needs.

International tourism tends to be the main focus of attention when we talk about Spain’s tourism industry. However, domestic tourism also plays an important role: Spaniards travel more than 175 million times a year within Spain and generate an associated tourist expenditure of 30,000 million euros1. In this article, we examine the recent trends in Spain’s domestic tourism and discuss the main differences between domestic and international tourists.

This winter’s drought has highlighted one of the most important challenges facing Spain’s agrifood sector: improving how water resources are used given the prospect of their availability becoming more limited.

In 2025, tourism consolidated its normalisation after the post-pandemic rebound, reaching record levels of activity and profitability. According to our estimates, tourism GDP grew by 2.7%, moderating from 6.0% in 2024, but giving way to a phase of expansion with more sustainable rates and even higher than pre-pandemic levels. International tourism reached new record highs, with 97 million arrivals (+3.5%) and spending of €135 billion (+7.0%), ranking Spain second worldwide in both arrivals (after France) and spending (after the USA). The hotel sector maintained record occupancy rates and improved its profitability, with particular dynamism in rural destinations compared to traditional ones. The outlook remains favourable: Tourism GDP is expected to grow between 2.5% and 2.7% annually in 2026-2027, slightly above the pace of the economy.