Spain has moved from one option among many to almost inevitable
Across the Atlantic, a quiet but significant shift in travel imagination is taking shape: seven in ten Americans now say they intend to visit Spain within three years, drawn not by novelty but by something that feels more like recognition — of food, of history, of landscape. A 2025 survey by MMGY Global, commissioned by Spain's tourism board, reveals that this pull is strongest among millennials and affluent households, suggesting that Spain has come to represent a particular kind of travel aspiration: substantive, culturally rooted, and within reach. What the data captures is less a trend than a convergence — of a destination that has told its story well and an audience ready to answer.
- Seven in ten U.S. travelers say they plan to visit Spain within three years, a figure that signals Spain has moved from desirable to near-inevitable for a large share of American tourists.
- The generational divide is striking: millennials lead at 81% interest while baby boomers trail at just 50%, a 25-point gap that reflects a fundamental difference in how younger travelers define meaningful travel.
- Affluent households earning over $150,000 annually show 76% attraction to Spain, pointing to a coming wave of high-spending visitors seeking cultural depth rather than surface-level tourism.
- Madrid and Barcelona anchor the desire at 80% and 79% respectively, but interest fans outward to Valencia, Seville, Granada, and Málaga — suggesting Americans are envisioning Spain as a country to be traversed, not merely sampled.
- The real test lies ahead: whether intention becomes booking, whether Spain's infrastructure can absorb the influx, and whether the lived experience holds up against the powerful image the country has projected.
Seven in ten American travelers say they plan to visit Spain within the next three years. That's the headline finding of a 2025 survey commissioned by Spain's tourism board and conducted by MMGY Global, which polled more than two thousand people across the United States and Canada. The numbers suggest Spain has become something close to a default aspiration for a large portion of North American travelers.
The reasons aren't surprising, but they're telling. Food leads the list of motivators, followed by history, culture, and landscape — the Mediterranean coast, the mountains, the particular quality of light. These aren't abstract attractions. They feel concrete and achievable to the people who named them.
The interest, however, is not evenly spread. Millennials are the most enthusiastic cohort, with 81% expressing interest in visiting — a full 25 points ahead of baby boomers at 50%. Generation X sits at 75% and Generation Z at 71%. The generational gap hints at something deeper: younger travelers appear to see Spain as a destination that aligns with their appetite for authentic, experience-driven travel.
Income plays a role too. Among households earning more than $150,000 annually, interest reaches 76%, reflecting Spain's growing reputation as a destination for culturally sophisticated, high-spending visitors.
City preferences reveal an appetite for breadth. Madrid leads at 80% interest, Barcelona follows at 79%, and from there the list extends to Valencia, Seville, Granada, Palma de Mallorca, Bilbao, and Málaga — each drawing between 59% and 68% of respondents. Americans aren't imagining a single-city trip. They're imagining a country.
What remains to be seen is whether intention becomes action — whether bookings follow the sentiment, and whether Spain's tourism infrastructure can meet the moment without compromising the very authenticity that made it so appealing in the first place.
When Americans sit down to plan their next trip abroad, they're thinking about Spain. Seven in ten U.S. travelers say they'll visit within the next three years, according to a 2025 survey commissioned by Spain's tourism board and conducted by MMGY Global. The research polled more than two thousand citizens from the United States and Canada, and the numbers tell a clear story: Spain has become one of Europe's most compelling destinations for North American travelers.
What's drawing them? The appeal is straightforward. Food matters—the country's culinary reputation carries real weight. So does history and culture, the weight of centuries visible in architecture and museums and streets. And then there are the landscapes: the Mediterranean coast, the mountains, the light itself. These aren't exotic novelties to most of the people surveyed. They're reasons that feel concrete and achievable.
But the interest isn't evenly distributed across age groups or income brackets. Millennials lead the charge. Eighty-one percent of that generation expressed interest in visiting Spain, a figure that stands out sharply against other cohorts. Generation X follows at seventy-five percent, Generation Z at seventy-one percent, and baby boomers at fifty percent. The gap between millennials and boomers is telling—a twenty-five-point spread that suggests younger travelers see Spain differently, perhaps as a destination that aligns with their values around authenticity and experience.
Wealth matters too. Among households earning more than one hundred fifty thousand dollars annually, interest climbs to seventy-six percent. This isn't coincidental. Spain's appeal to affluent travelers reflects something about what that demographic seeks: cultural depth, culinary sophistication, the kind of travel that feels substantive rather than merely consumptive.
When it comes to specific cities, Madrid and Barcelona dominate. Eighty percent of survey respondents expressed interest in Madrid, with Barcelona just behind at seventy-nine percent. These are the anchors, the names people recognize. But the interest spreads beyond the capitals. Valencia drew sixty-eight percent, Seville sixty-six percent, Granada sixty-one percent, Palma de Mallorca sixty percent, and both Bilbao and Málaga came in at fifty-nine percent. The distribution suggests that American travelers aren't planning to stay in one place. They're imagining a Spain that extends across regions, each with its own character.
What this survey captures is a moment in travel behavior. Spain has moved from being one option among many to being a destination that feels almost inevitable to a significant portion of American travelers. The next three years will test whether that intention translates into actual bookings, whether the infrastructure can absorb the influx, and whether the experience matches the expectation. For now, the data shows a country that has successfully communicated something true about itself to an audience with both the time and the money to act on it.
Notable Quotes
The principal reasons Americans choose Spain are its gastronomy, cultural and historical richness, and natural landscapes and beauty— 2025 Portrait of American & Canadian International Travelers survey
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why do you think Spain specifically has captured American imagination right now? There are plenty of European destinations.
It's the combination. You can get history in Italy or France, but Spain offers that plus the food culture, plus the sense that you're not going to the most obvious place. And the survey shows it's working especially well with millennials—that generation that wants experiences that feel authentic, not just checkboxes.
The income split is interesting. Seventy-six percent for households over one-fifty thousand. Does that mean Spain is becoming a luxury destination?
Not luxury in the sense of exclusivity. It's more that affluent travelers have the flexibility to spend time there, to stay longer, to eat well, to move between cities. Spain doesn't require you to choose between culture and comfort. That's appealing to people with resources.
Madrid and Barcelona at eighty and seventy-nine percent—those are remarkably high numbers. Are people actually planning to visit both?
The survey doesn't tell us that. But the fact that interest extends to Valencia, Seville, Granada suggests people are thinking beyond the two capitals. They're imagining a longer trip, or multiple trips.
What happens if all these people actually show up?
That's the real question. The survey captures intention. Whether Spain's tourism infrastructure, its hotels, its restaurants, can handle a seventy percent conversion rate from a population of three hundred million Americans—that's a different story entirely.