Michele Majidi
Researcher
Advertising in Spain - statistics & facts
It’s official: Spain’s advertising market has beat the pandemic blues. Ad spending managed to surpass pre-COVID values 2023, signifying a return to stable growth in nearly all formats –the medium with the highest ad spending, followed by television and out-of-home (OOH). The industry sector with the highest investments into advertising was the distribution and catering one, while L'Oréal was the largest advertiser.
TV is still thriving
A decline in traditional ad spending in Spain was particularly clear in newspaper advertising. Between 2011 and 2023, newspaper ad revenue dropped from one billion to 341 million euros. Magazine advertising has also been contracting. In contrast, traditional broadcast advertising still maintained a sizeable market share. Television has been the most profitable standalone advertising medium, with TV ad spending slowly making its way toward returning to pre-pandemic values.
Digital holds on to number one spot
2020 marked the year in which digital outranked television in becoming the largest advertising shareholder in the country. Digital already succeeded in rebounding to pre-pandemic values back in 2021 and is expected to pass the five-billion-euro mark by 2025. Search internet was the leading digital ad format, followed by social media and display. Institutions made up the top digital advertising industry sector, followed by automotive. As of 2023, Spain was the fifth largest market in Europe for social media ad spending.
Spaniards love their TV, dislike their targeted social media ads
Given the favored role of media such as television in Spain, it comes as no surprise that TV ads were noticed by almost six out of 10 Spaniards, a higher share than video portals or social media platforms. In addition to that, word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family trumped other methods when it came to the leading ways consumers learned about new brands. In a survey about attitudes toward advertising, half of respondents said they did not mind ads if they got free content in return. Another four out of 10 consumers said they were often annoyed by internet ads. Personalized social media ads have some work to do in winning the hearts of Spanish audiences, with more than four out of 10 saying they disliked them.
TV is still thriving
A decline in traditional ad spending in Spain was particularly clear in newspaper advertising. Between 2011 and 2023, newspaper ad revenue dropped from one billion to 341 million euros. Magazine advertising has also been contracting. In contrast, traditional broadcast advertising still maintained a sizeable market share. Television has been the most profitable standalone advertising medium, with TV ad spending slowly making its way toward returning to pre-pandemic values.
Digital holds on to number one spot
2020 marked the year in which digital outranked television in becoming the largest advertising shareholder in the country. Digital already succeeded in rebounding to pre-pandemic values back in 2021 and is expected to pass the five-billion-euro mark by 2025. Search internet was the leading digital ad format, followed by social media and display. Institutions made up the top digital advertising industry sector, followed by automotive. As of 2023, Spain was the fifth largest market in Europe for social media ad spending.
Spaniards love their TV, dislike their targeted social media ads
Given the favored role of media such as television in Spain, it comes as no surprise that TV ads were noticed by almost six out of 10 Spaniards, a higher share than video portals or social media platforms. In addition to that, word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family trumped other methods when it came to the leading ways consumers learned about new brands. In a survey about attitudes toward advertising, half of respondents said they did not mind ads if they got free content in return. Another four out of 10 consumers said they were often annoyed by internet ads. Personalized social media ads have some work to do in winning the hearts of Spanish audiences, with more than four out of 10 saying they disliked them.
