CHEAP flights and mass tourism are making homes more expensive to buy and rent across Spain, a new report has warned.

Tourism growth added €3,800 to the price of the average Spanish home and €236 to rents between 2019 and 2025, according to data from non-profit organisation Transport & Environment (T&E). The figures have been adjusted to 2026 prices.

The striking findings come as anti-tourism sentiment grows across Spain, with thousands of residents staging protests last weekend in Malaga, Tenerife, La Palma and Caceres.

Campaigners have long argued that overtourism and the spread of holiday rentals are driving up rents and property prices across the country, forcing many long-term residents out of their neighbourhoods.

According to T&E projections, rents could rise by a further €217 by 2030, while the average home price is expected to increase by another €3,500 over the same period.

In one of its most striking findings, the report also shows that the Balearic Islands have welcomed nearly ten times their local population in tourist arrivals over the past five years.

The figure stands at five times for the Canary Islands and twice for Barcelona, compared with an EU average of one.

As a record-breaking 98–100 million tourists are projected to visit Spain by the end of the year, local governments have scrambled to contain rising prices.

Malaga mayor Francisco de la Torre announced on Wednesday that he will ban the construction of new hotels and tourist apartments in residential areas for three years.

He said the measure aims to curb the rapid expansion of tourist accommodation in the city, which residents blame for pushing up rents and displacing locals.

Similar measures are being rolled out across Spain, with the central government forcing Airbnb to remove 60,000 listings last year.

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