Passenger traffic at Madrid-Barajas Airport 2005-2023
Spain’s capital city’s airport, Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, was the country’s leading airport in terms of passenger volume, with figures reaching some 60.2 million travelers in 2023. Madrid-Barajas Airport experienced a considerable increase in the volume of passengers over the last years, ranking it as one of the busiest airports in Europe. However, the airport was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 when the global air traffic plummeted.
Spain: an indisputable travel destination
Spain ranked second on the World Tourism Organization’s list of most visited countries in the world, with its number of international visitors amounting to 31.2 million in 2021. The Mediterranean country was also one of Europe’s favorite holiday destinations in 2021: France, the United Kingdom, and Germany appeared in the leading positions of the largest number of international visitors to Spain by country of residence.
Tourism constitutes an essential industry for the Spanish economic system
The travel and tourism sector has become one of the leading engines of growth for the Spanish economy, featuring an ongoing increase in the GDP contribution over the last years and reached approximately 88.6 billion euros in 2021. The industry plays a key role to boost the Spanish employment market, which has been experiencing a significant improvement since the 2007 financial crisis jeopardized and destroyed many jobs across the country. The coronavirus pandemic has hit the tourism sector particularly hard, destroying once again a vast amount of jobs.
