A Spanish town is asking visitors to avoid weekends and come on weekdays instead, due to tourist arrivals that vastly outnumber the local population, overwhelming the town and its residents.
And the town in question is not a coastal resort but central Spain’s Brihuega, which has a sea of its own – a sea of lavender fields spanning 1,000 hectares of land. The picturesque crop, a stunner on Instagram, attracts masses of tourists in summer – approximately 140,000 in the space of a few weeks. With the majority of those descending on the locality during the weekend, overcrowding and insufficient services are an issue.
Literally trainloads of visitors arrive by rail on the “ Lavender Train” that connects Madrid, just an hour away, to Brihuega during July’s peak lavender weeks. With a coach transfer included, those visitors are brought to the town centre in swathes for a cost of €50 for adults and €20 for children, on the Renfe website.
But now Mayor Luis Vuego has told ABC newspaper: “I recommend visiting us from Monday to Thursday, please. It’s more difficult on weekends due to the large number of people who come. Last Saturday, for example, the town collapsed. I had a bad time. We work hard, we have a security committee, but it’s still a large turnout,” he said. “That’s why I insist: please come from Monday to Thursday.”
Clearly, Vuego is not seeking to discourage the visitors altogether. Brihuega’s popularity generates a whopping €8 million in revenue during the summer lavender season alone, and has contributed to a 24% growth in population – an unusual phenomenon in rural central Spain.
That’s partly because of the wealth of things Brihuega has to offer during the rest of the year too, from hiking and photography in the Tajuna Valley’s landscapes, the underground network of the Arab Caves of Brihuega, which were an amenity as far back as the 10th century, the town’s medieval streets, Renaissance dwellings, and attractive squares and monuments.
Visita relámpago a Brihuega.
— Hispanista 🇪🇸❌ (@Oskr_V__MK) July 28, 2025
Están en su festival de la Lavanda.
Y como no podía ser de otra manera, visita al cuartel de la Benemérita en el pueblo más bonito de Guadalajara. pic.twitter.com/B5sbHko2sF
And culture-wise, Brihuega possesses its own bull-run, an annual 16-August event named a “Festival of Regional Tourist Interest” in which bulls are allowed to run through the town. If horses are more up your street, local stables offer equestrian activity holidays too. There’s also a brand new five-star hotel, and park-and-ride and shuttle bus provision set to launch in 2026. For those who are tempted, just aim for the working week, if possible – or why not take a cooler break, planning the visit for October and November when the lavender is replaced by fields of autumnal red sumac.
