Over 80% of tourists in the city in October 2025 reported visiting cultural sites. According to data from the Barcelona Institute of Culture, the city’s museums have welcomed more than 3.3 million visitors so far this year, representing year-to-date growth of 3.4%. This upward trend in cultural tourism is also reflected in visitors’ rating of the city, which stands at 8.85.

One of the city’s most iconic sites, Park Güell, welcomed 497,000 visitors with tickets in October 2025, 17% more than in October 2024, and 60,000 visitors without tickets (10.8% of the total). From January to October, the site saw a total of 4.2 million ticketed visitors and 464,000 non-ticketed visitors.

Profile of overnight visitors

According to data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute, Barcelona continues to attract more international tourists (and host more international tourists overnight in hotels) than any other urban destination in Spain. 

A total of 67.9% of tourists stayed in hotels, 25.6% in holiday lets, and 6.5% in hostels. Meanwhile, there were 3.2 million overnight stays in holiday lets in October 2025, up by 3% compared to the previous year. The average length of stay at holiday lets was 2.6 nights. 

The report also notes that international visitors accounted for 83.4% of all tourists staying in hotels, up by 9.4% compared to October 2024 and the highest figure on record for October. Meanwhile, domestic tourism also increased significantly in October (8.9%), continuing the trend seen over the summer. 

As for the origin of international tourists in October 2025, the United States topped the ranking, with 133,000 tourists staying in hotels (15.9% of all tourists). The United Kingdom came in a distant second (49,000), followed by Germany (48,000), France (46,000) and Italy (43,000). Compared with October 2024, there was also a sharp increase in the number of tourists from South Korea (42.8%), as well as China (24.9%), Japan (22.9%) and Australia (21.2%).

New passenger record at Barcelona’s airport and port

Barcelona’s airport set a new October passenger record with more than 5.22 million passengers, up by 5.6% year-on-year. The airport has welclomed 48.9 million passengers year-to-date (a 4.3% increase), with a notable rise in intercontinental passengers (11.9%). 

At the Port of Barcelona, cruise passenger movements increased by 20.7% compared to October 2024 and set a record for the month, coming in at a total of 487,000. 

Further information: Infographic on tourism in Barcelona. October 2025