The tax will not be applied all at once but will instead be introduced gradually. From October 2026 until 1 July 2027, visitors will only pay the charge for the first two nights of their stay. After that date, the tax will apply to a maximum of five nights per visit. Cruise passengers will also be included, although their contribution will only come into force from July 2027. This phased approach is designed to ease the transition for both tourists and the local tourism sector.

@fabioribeiro Just a few minutos in Vigo and I am in already awe by Galicia! this land is pure magic. Top must-dos in Vigo: – Explorr the charming alleys in the old town – Soak in the stunning waterfront – Don’t miss the delicious eats! Highly recommend grabbing a bite on Rua dos Cesteiros and chilling at the hippie baker for the perfect vibe. If you have been to Vigo, what was it that you most liked? #vigo #spain #travel #travelspain #summer #summervibes #galicia #gallego #viajes #fyp #españa #galiciacalidade ♬ Buttercup – Jullian & Sophie Wood

The amount visitors pay will depend on where they stay. Guests in five-star hotels will pay the highest rate of €2 per night, while those staying in three- and four-star hotels will be charged €1.60. Visitors choosing one- or two-star accommodation, as well as cruise passengers, will pay €1.20 per night. The lowest rate of €0.80 will apply to hostels, campsites, tourist apartments and rural accommodation. This system means that the cost is linked to the level of comfort and services provided.

Not everyone will have to pay the new tax. Residents of Vigo will be exempt, as well as children and people with disabilities. There are also plans to allow exemptions for visitors travelling for health reasons or those taking part in certain social programmes. Local authorities have indicated that some of these details are still being finalised.  

Vigo is a popular destination in the northwest of Spain, known for its coastal setting and lively atmosphere. The city offers access to dozens of beaches and is close to the Cíes Islands, a protected natural area. One of its beaches, Rodas Beach, has previously been described as one of the best in the world. Vigo is also famous for its large-scale Christmas light displays, which attract visitors from across Europe each year. In addition, the city has a strong reputation for fresh seafood thanks to its busy fishing port.

@visitspain Paradise off the Galician coast Crystal waters, golden beaches, and untouched nature await at Islas Cíes. #VisitSpain #ThinkyouknowSpain #SpainSustainable #Galicia #Pontevedra ♬ sonido original – visitSpain

Tourism plays a major role in the local economy, especially through cruise travel. The port of Vigo regularly welcomes large ships carrying thousands of passengers at the same time. This can put pressure on public spaces, transport and the local environment, particularly during peak periods. By introducing a tourist tax, the city hopes to better manage these impacts. The additional income could also support maintenance and improvements in areas frequently used by visitors.

The move follows a broader trend seen across Spain and beyond. Cities such as Barcelona have already introduced or increased tourist taxes in recent years. In some cases, visitors pay both regional and local charges, which can significantly increase the total cost of a stay. Similar measures are being adopted in other parts of Europe as destinations look for ways to deal with overtourism. In this context, Vigo is becoming one of the latest cities to introduce a system that asks visitors to contribute directly to the places they visit.  

L’article Spanish port city Vigo to introduce tourist tax from October 2026 est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Northern Spain’s second busiest airport, Santiago-Rosalía de Castro, will shut its doors from Thursday, 23 April to Wednesday, 27 May 2026. It is due to undergo critical runway maintenance during the closure. “During this period, the airport will be closed to all air traffic, and no takeoffs or landings will take place,” the airport website says. Airlines including Ryanair, Europe’s largest by passenger numbers, and Aer Lingus and Vueling will be among those whose flights will be cancelled on account of the works.

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The Galician gateway to the country’s Finisterre cape, UNESCO treasures, and pilgrimage city, Santiago de Compostela, handled 3.1 million flyers in 2025, serving 30 flights per week to UK routes alone. With Spain’s tourism industry smashing consecutive benchmarks in recent years, and anticipated to continue booming, especially over the course of what will be a total eclipse summer for the region, record numbers of international arrivals are expected again in 2026, meaning the five-week shutdown will affect tens of thousands of passenger journeys.

Connectivity to the north of Spain and Santiago de Compostela in particular is facing another setback in 2026, with seat capacity slashed by 1.2 million after the announcement by Ryanair that it would be pulling out of or reducing operations at a suite of Spanish airports. For the summer season 2026, the budget Irish carrier is set to close all Asturias flights, as well as cut Santiago de Compostela back to baseline services.

The disruption comes on top of strikes at a series of other airports around the country and its territories, including the alternative Galician arrival and departure point, A Coruña. Operations at other mainland hubs, including Seville and Jerez de la Frontera, serving the Sherry-route, and the capital’s Madrid-Cuatro Vientos will be impacted by the air traffic controller walkouts, as well as Spain’s island airports, such as Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote, La Palma, where union representatives have denounced working conditions and stress levels that they say compromise aeronautical safety.

Travellers who think their journey might be subject to schedule changes due to strikes or airport shutdowns should contact the relevant carriers for more information about flight status and rebooking options.

L’article Santiago Airport to shut for five weeks, disrupting flights across Northern Spain est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The resort town of Magaluf, located within the municipality of Calvià in western Mallorca, has long been known as a nightlife destination. However, as tourism is evolving, so is Magaluf. In order for tourists and locals alike to get to know the destination under a new light, Calvià’s Town Council has installed a so-called selfie route.

The route was launched in April 2026 under the slogan ‘Magaluf for All’ and invites everyone to make the most of Magaluf’s picture-perfect landscape. With the help of a company called TURS, the municipality installed what they call “patented smart signage that allows visitors to take perfect photos and selfies independently”.

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The smartly-designed photo stations allow anyone to take a photogenic holiday picture, showing both themselves and the surrounding landscape under the best light and angle. The help of tripods, selfie sticks, extra-long arms, or strangers is thus no longer needed to take the perfect selfie.

At the inauguration of the trail, the selfie route included four different stops, each showcasing a different side of Magaluf. One focuses on Magaluf’s inland landscape and the historic Cas Saboners estate, a second stop looks out over the Torrenova peninsula, Magaluf’s natural wonder, Illa de Sa Porrassa, stands centre-stage at the third selfie stand, and its cosmopolitan vibe is showcased at the fourth station called Skyline. Visitors are encouraged to share their dearest memories of Magaluf online, thereby becoming the town’s best ambassadors.

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Aside from a photo station, each stop also features a QR code allowing tourists and locals to access a specifically-designed web app. The app includes detailed descriptions, photographs, and a multi-lingual audio guide of all viewing points. Moreover, the app gives visitors a handy overview of all events, hotels, restaurants, and local businesses in the surrounding area.

At the time of writing, three additional stops were being developed in order to expand the selfie route towards the Torre de Torrenova estate.

The initiative is part of an awareness campaign highlighting sustainable tourism in Mallorca, driven by the Balearic government and funded through the Sustainable Tourism Tax. According to the council, the selfie route should encourage “responsible behaviour among tourists and residents, fostering coexistence and environmental stewardship”.

L’article Mallorca welcomes selfie route showcasing other side of Magaluf est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Local councillors have approved measures to cap the proportion of short-term vacation houses and apartments to two percent or less of the city’s housing stock, as part of what Mayor María José Catalá, called “a much more ambitious strategy, framed within the city’s broader vision of changing the paradigm,” she said.

As tourism has boomed to record levels in recent years, Spain has experienced an accompanying rise in anti-tourism sentiment. This has manifested itself in protests, vandalism, graffiti, and civil disobedience, as residents across the mainland, Balearic and Canary Islands have complained that they are being priced out of residential property rentals and ownership, as well as being unable to afford to go on holiday in their own resorts. The situation has led to some of the harshest rules about tourist rental platforms anywhere in the world, with Airbnb forced to remove tens of thousands of non-compliant listings and subject to huge fines.

Hoy en el #PleValencia aprobamos la regulación de plazas turísticas más restrictiva de España.

Ponemos freno a 8 años de descontrol de una izquierda que expulsó a vecinos y permitió apartamentos turísticos en bajos comerciales.

Marcamos un antes y un después protegiendo el… pic.twitter.com/HdMKKCxiWB

— María José Catalá (@mjosecatala) March 31, 2026

Responding to the same public concerns, in a city described by Time Out as a “magnet for city breakers,” Catalá said: “We are not just a sun and beach city seeking mass low-cost tourism, we are a city that encompasses an urban tourist destination, and we are bringing order to the chaos of recent years.”

The new regulations will apply to rental homes and hotels, confining the number of occupants to no more than eight percent of registered residents per neighbourhood and district. To further improve the balance of home types available to locals, holiday accommodation will be allowed to occupy only 15% or less of ground-floor properties in residential districts.

Since many of the city’s most popular districts are already at or above those quotas, licensing for new premises will be hard to obtain. Local stakeholders have questioned why the rules will apply to hotels, blaming the housing affordability problem on unregistered rentals in residential homes, rather than legitimate businesses.

Francisco Guardeño, of the Federation of Neighbourhood Associations of Valencia, told Euronews “more than 9,000 tourist apartments” are being rented out illegally in the city, adding up to “almost twice the number of hotel accommodations”. Those rentals will not be affected by the change in law, since they already operate “in the shadows,” Guardeño said, pointing to a “problem that the proposal before us does not solve.”

L’article Valencia to restrict tourist accommodation in bid to rebalance city est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The walkouts, called by unions including UGT, CCOO and USO, will take place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, affecting three time slots: from 5 to 7 am, from 11 am to 5 pm and from 10 pm to midnight. In addition, a series of one-day strikes is planned by handling staff on 28-29 March, and between 2-6 April, with the threat of ongoing action until December if key union demands on pay, working conditions, and contracts are not met.

Up to 3,000 employees of the Menzies Group (Menzies Aviation Iberica and Menzies Ground Services) are expected to join the walkouts, as well as staff with Groundforce. Despite national regulations governing aviation that guarantee a minimum level of service, some of the busiest hubs in Spain will be impacted by the withdrawal of labour, affecting tasks such as ramp and passenger logistics at airports, check-in and boarding, baggage handling, refuelling, cleaning, and transportation.

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Airports set to be hit by the strikes include in the capital, Madrid-Barajas, and significant tourist entry and exit points at Alicante-Elche, Barcelona-El Prat, Bilbao, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Málaga-Costa del Sol, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Tenerife Sur and Norte, and Valencia. Local press are estimating that up to 800,000 passengers could be hit at Palma Airport alone.

With staff numbers limited and baggage taking longer to make it through airport processes, travellers should expect longer waiting and connection times than usual and plan to arrive in plenty of time for departures. They should also be aware that schedules may be subject to unexpected changes, as extended aircraft turnaround times could cause knock-on effects to timetables.

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The uncertainty created by the strikes comes on top of the Europe-wide rollout of the European Union’s new Entry Exit System (EES), which is reported to be causing longer processing times than usual. EES is intended to streamline border security control across the Schengen bloc, but its implementation requires third-country visitors to the EU to register their biometric data. Although most hubs have deployed kiosks and helpdesks, the registration process has led to delays of up to three hours at transit hubs in popular destinations like Prague and Lisbon. Citing waiting times up to 70% longer than average in some places, aviation trade body Airports Council International (ACI) has called for a review of the rollout.

L’article Easter flights to and from Spain likely to be hit by ground staff strike action est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The High Court of Justice of Madrid rejected Airbnb’s request for interim measures that would have allowed it to delay payment of the penalty until a final ruling is issued. As a result, the company must pay the fine immediately, even as the case remains ongoing. 

The fine was imposed in December 2025 by Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs over multiple violations linked to tourist accommodation listings on the platform. Authorities found that Airbnb had advertised tens of thousands of properties that did not comply with regional regulations, including listings without a valid licence, incorrect or false registration numbers, and incomplete or misleading information about hosts. 

Investigators identified irregularities in more than 65,000 listings, many of which were later removed. The ministry classified these practices as misleading advertising and unfair commercial behaviour, with the total fine calculated at roughly six times the profit generated from the unlawful listings. 

In a statement following the ruling, Airbnb said the decision “is purely procedural and does not address the substance of the case,” adding that it considers the sanction to be incompatible with Spanish and European legal frameworks. The company has confirmed it will continue to appeal the penalty.

The court’s decision does not assess whether the fine itself is justified, focusing instead on whether payment could be postponed. Judges concluded there were no grounds to suspend the sanction, meaning the financial penalty must be settled while legal proceedings continue. Despite the setback, Airbnb maintains that it has complied with applicable regulations and continues to contest the legal basis of the fine. 

The case forms part of a broader effort by Spanish authorities to tighten oversight of the short-term rental market, which has been widely linked to rising housing costs and reduced availability for local residents. Governments across Europe, including in France, Italy and Portugal, have introduced similar measures in response to mounting pressure on housing supply.

Spain has been particularly aggressive in enforcing compliance, with courts previously ordering Airbnb to remove thousands of non-compliant listings in separate rulings over the past year. Officials argue that stricter regulation is necessary to protect consumers and ensure transparency in the rapidly growing tourist accommodation sector.

L’article Spanish Court orders Airbnb to pay €64 million fine and rejects suspension request est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Teruel Airport in eastern Spain is a former military airbase that usually operates no passenger traffic but serves as an aircraft maintenance and aircraft storage facility. Its position, to the northwest of the Mediterranean, and its dry, salt-free climate and high elevation, make it an ideal, non-corrosive environment for parked passenger jets whose schedules have been disrupted. During the COVID-19 travel lockdowns, at least 140 aircraft were stored there.

Now, thanks to airspace closures and cancelled routes in the Middle East, 20 widebody aircraft were expected to arrive at Teruel by 21 March, including 17 belonging to Qatar Airways. Reports have identified at least four Airbus A330s, an Airbus A380, two Airbus A350s, and a Boeing 787. The airport usually averages two arrivals per day.

Teruel can cope with sudden influxes because of the very fact that it does not handle passenger traffic, which frees up apron space that would normally be required for commercial use. It boasts 120 hectares of parking, enough to house 250 widebody aircraft and up to 400 narrowbodies.

Even so, the airport’s General Manager, Alejandro Ibrahim, said the number of planes arriving is “not normal”, adding, “But companies are revising their fleets and routes and looking for safer places to park their planes, and Europe fits the bill.”

Echoing those words, commentators are pointing to the arrival of so many Qatar Airways jets as a sign that the Qatari flag carrier does not foresee a rapid end to the closures affecting its base in Doha. While the carrier could have selected a desert to park in, like Gulf Air, which took its fleet to Saudi Arabia a week ago, the choice of Spain, and therefore a European logistics base, allows it to maintain its status as a key player in east-west connectivity.

#Qatar Airways has moved roughly 17 widebody aircraft to #Spain’s Teruel Airport for storage as Middle East airspace disruptions continue.

Aircraft including A380s, A350s, and 787s are parked outside the region as a precaution.#IranWar‌ #israel #Breaking pic.twitter.com/ACQV2D4APj

— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) March 23, 2026

Though Teruel might be hitting the headlines and gaining notoriety, Ibrahim indicated an impatience to get back to business as usual—its maintenance role, which is affected when more aircraft are on the ground, and fewer are in the skies. “The war has been going on for 20 days, so it’s only just beginning,” Ibrahim said. “We’d like this to end, because our main business is aircraft maintenance. The more planes that are flying (worldwide), our airport gets more activity.”

Amid World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimates of industry losses at $600 million a day, however, there remains no end in sight to the hostilities afflicting the region.

L’article Spanish airport hosts Qatar Airways planes as Middle East airspace crisis continues est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Girona-Costa Brava serves as a gateway for the popular Catalonian coast in northeastern Spain, and the Pyrenees, as well as providing an alternative to overtouristed Barcelona.

The budget Irish carrier has expressed regret at a situation that it claims has undermined its ability to expand in the region, blaming Spanish authorities and Aena, the operator of nearly all commercial airports in Spain. Aena has put up airport fees by 10% since 2024, the airline said, arguing that the operator’s intention to raise them by 21% in the next five years is likely to “further damage air connectivity, tourism, and employment across Spain.”

The airline “had ambitious growth plans for Catalonia’s regional airports, where it could have based a fifth aircraft in Girona, a new base in Reus, and achieved unprecedented growth at both airports under competitive conditions that would benefit all airlines,” Alejandra Ruiz, Ryanair’s Spanish spokesperson said. But instead of being able to forge ahead with those projects, it is “still awaiting a response from the Spanish government, which has no plan to fix a system that continues to line Aena’s pockets while draining regional airports.”

Despite the cuts, Ryanair will still offer 34 routes to 13 countries from Girona, including a new connection to Bucharest. But it had previously said its plans would lead to growth of 42%. It is demanding that the Spanish market competition regulator, Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), along with the Ministry of Transport, stand up against Aena’s operating charges, which it says are harmful to the Spanish economy.

For the same reasons, in autumn 2025, the carrier announced it would wipe 1.2 million other seats from its Spanish capacity for the 2026 summer season, entailing a complete stop to Ryanair flights to and from Asturias Airport in northern Spain. Other affected flights and hubs over the winter season were 36 direct connections with Spain and the Canary Islands, and an operations shutdown at the three Spanish bases of Santiago, Tenerife North, and Vigo. 

In those instances, other airlines appeared to jump on the opportunities created by the freeing up of Ryanair slots. Meanwhile, as overtourism protests and housing complaints continue to rumble in many Spanish destinations, and the country pursues quality over quantity and high-value spending over volume, Ryanair has accused Spanish President Sánchez of an anti-tourism strategy.

L’article Ryanair cuts seat capacity at Girona in response to “flawed” airport charges est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

Coming on 12 August 2026, the total eclipse of the sun will be the first that some viewers in Europe have ever had the chance to witness. The region has not seen a so-called “totality” since 1999. Much of its path will travel remote areas like Siberia, the North Pole and Arctic, and Atlantic, so Spain offers eclipse tourists the most accessible view and has a more developed hospitality offer than the other territories involved.

@areyoustupidordumb core memory wow #solareclipse #eclipse ♬ original sound – noelle

However, the availability of that accommodation is already fast diminishing. Spain’s eclipse.info website warns that “It is advisable to plan your holiday to Spain well in advance to avoid complications, as this series of eclipses is a historic event.” It also clearly is trying to spread the footfall and revenues the eclipse is bound to bring, urging people to book “a trip of at least seven days.” It’s also worth noting that Spain is set to see two more years of eclipses before 2030, so there is still time to plan ahead for 2027 and 2028.

The path of totality will sweep across Spain from northwest to Valencia on the east coast, and beyond to the Balearic Islands. The Balearics in general are expected to be at the epicentre of the tourism surge, due to the rare romance of being able to watch the eclipse as the sun sets over the Mediterranean.

Expedia says demand for flights to Palma de Mallorca for the week of the eclipse has more than tripled already compared to last year, and some industry stakeholders, such as José Molina of Vestige Collection, speaking to Condé Nast Traveler, have estimated that Mallorca’s two million annual visitors could swell by another million arrivals in that week alone. 

Despite fears of cloudy skies ruining the eclipse in northern Spain, it is perhaps for that reason that it could remain a better bet for finding available accommodation and car rentals. Still, Hotels.com has reported room searches for the Spanish north on eclipse day and the day after were already up 125% year-on-year by January 2026. That’s an average. A Coruña, which juts into the Atlantic on a sweeping promontory and is the vanguard, giving kilometres of potential eclipse viewing spots, has seen a 435% increase in hotel demand.

In fact, A Coruña is at the vanguard of the Spanish eclipse, with the phenomenon starting there earliest, at around 19:30 in the evening, leaving plenty of post-eclipse time for aperitifs, tapas, and evening revels. Tourists thinking of heading to this provincial capital, however, might want to consider the fact that A Coruña also boasts a taller mean height of buildings than anywhere else in Spain, according to Land Registry data. Tall buildings block eclipse vistas, unless of course, the spectator happens to be inside one with an unobstructed view of the sea.

@explorationplace What to look for before you look at the solar eclipse on April 8! #solareclipse #foryoupage #eclipse #wichita #wichitaks #science #museum #stem #explorationplace ♬ Sunrise – Official Sound Studio

Central inland Spain offers places like Castilla y León and Zaragoza, which trade potentially clearer skies than the north of the country for a lack of coastline, and in general a less developed tourist offer—meaning that local experts say demand could still outstrip availability. Camping could be a good option here, if one can find enough shade to shelter one’s tent or RV at the height of August in a country that has marked record temperatures and wildfires in recent summers.

Lovers of the outdoors could also take advantage of another option that will not be for everyone, but could present a unique kind of magic. Why not plan to be walking through the Pyrenees and along the famous pilgrim’s route of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela at precisely the moment of totality? “It promises something extraordinary: a moment of stillness and awe within a journey already steeped in reflection,” says hikers’ info site, caminoways. “Astronomers expect totality to last around two minutes and ten seconds in northern Spain. For those walking westward, it will occur in early afternoon, a perfect pause to rest, reflect and watch the sky change,” the site notes. Just don’t fall down the mountain during the heart of darkness.

L’article Spain prepares for eclipse tourism surge in August est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

The trail, known as the Gran Recorrido del Llevant and also called the East Mallorca GR-226, runs through the Llevant region on the island’s eastern side. Completed in January, the route covers a vast area known for its natural landscapes, historic towns and archaeological heritage.

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The GR‑226 is divided into four roughly equal stages that can be completed over several days. The trail begins at Cales de Mallorca and leads to Manacor (24.99km), then continues from Manacor to Son Carrió (22.99km). The third section runs from Son Carrió to Artà (23.19km), with the final stage taking hikers from Artà to Cala Mesquida (22.63km) on the northeastern coast. Each stage covers just over 20 kilometres, and the largest climb in a day reaches around 248 metres, making the route manageable for hikers of different experience levels. 

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Additional access points along the route include Son Macià and Costa dels Pins, giving walkers the option to join or leave the trail at different locations and adapt their journey depending on the distance they want to cover.

The trail also highlights several cultural and historical sites across the region. Among them is the prehistoric settlement of Ses Païsses near Artà, which dates back around 3,000 years, and the 13^th-century Bellpuig Monastery. The route also passes the 14^th-century Capdepera Castle, the Cala Rajada Lighthouse, the Church of Sant Joan Baptista, and the Son Carrió Railway Museum. Along with historical landmarks, the trail connects several towns and villages in eastern Mallorca, offering visitors opportunities to experience local traditions and culture. 

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Running from Cales de Mallorca to Cala Mesquida, the route passes through a variety of landscapes, including coastal cliffs, sandy coves, forests and farmland. Walkers following the trail travel through both inland and coastal sections of eastern Mallorca, offering views of the Mediterranean as well as rural scenery. 

Further information about the trail, including maps and directions, is available through the official Gran Recorrido del Llevant website.

L’article Mallorca unveils new 104km hiking trail through scenic eastern coast est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.