Tourism Employment in Spain Reaches 2.98 Million in July, Up 2.9% Year-on-Year

International

Employment in Spain’s tourism sector continued to grow at a steady pace in July, reaching 2.98 million workers affiliated with the Social Security system, according to data published by Turespaña.

This represents an increase of 82,821 workers compared with the same month in 2024, equivalent to a 2.9% rise. Tourism employment accounts for 13.8% of all registered workers in Spain, compared with overall national employment growth of 2.3% in July.

Growth across all tourism-related activities

All branches of the tourism sector recorded employment growth in July. Hospitality added 40,157 workers (16,708 in accommodation services and 23,449 in food and beverage services). Travel agencies registered an increase of 1,014 workers, while other tourism-related activities grew by 41,650.

Employees continue to drive growth

Salaried employment in the tourism sector, which accounts for 82.9% of all affiliated workers, rose by 3.3% year-on-year in July. By subsector, employment increased by 0.8% in travel agencies and tour operators, and by 2.5% in hospitality. Within hospitality, employment grew by 3.5% in accommodation services and by 2.1% in food and beverage services.

Self-employment, representing 17.1% of total tourism employment, rose by 0.7%. Within this, hospitality recorded a marginal 0.1% increase, while travel agencies reported a stronger year-on-year rise of 3% in self-employed workers.

Overall, hospitality and travel agencies/tour operators together – which represent 69.1% of all tourism-related Social Security affiliations – posted a combined year-on-year increase of 2% in July.

Regional highlights: Canary Islands and Andalucía lead growth

Employment in hospitality and travel agencies/tour operators grew across all autonomous regions in July, except in Ceuta and Melilla. In absolute terms, the largest increase was recorded in Andalucía, with 11,577 additional workers. In relative terms, the strongest growth occurred in the Canary Islands (+3.3%) and Andalucía (+3.2%).

For the full set of Social Security affiliation statistics, please visit: [Turespaña Statistics Portal]