A new study by the European Federation for Transport and Environment links rising air tourism in seven countries to higher rents and house prices, but says this alone cannot explain the scale of the housing problem.
The arrival of tourists by air is partly to blame for rising rents and house prices across Europe, but particularly in Spain. That is the argument put forward in a study by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), commissioned by the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), and already backed by platforms campaigning against property speculation, which denounce the problems linked to short-term rentals and the purchase of housing by foreign buyers.
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According to the analysis (source in Spanish) carried out, between 2019 and 2025 there is a clear correlation between the rise in air tourists in seven European countries, especially in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, and the increase in rents and house prices. The reverse is also true, T&E argues: in those countries where this type of tourism has fallen (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland), house prices have also dropped, albeit moderately.
In Spain specifically, the 12.8% increase in tourists arriving by air over the past seven years is estimated to have been responsible for an average rise of 3,800 euros in purchase prices and up to 236 euros more (1.7%) on rental prices. Rents could, moreover, go up by a further 217 euros between now and 2031 as a result of this factor.
Nevertheless, as we recalled in this other analysis of Spain’s housing situation based on data from the Bank of Spain, the study points out that “the impact will vary significantly between cities and regions depending on tourist demand”. In other words, the findings cannot be applied in the same way to central Valencia as to somewhere like Lugo.
The Bank of Spain’s own report had already highlighted the issue of homes earmarked for uses such as tourist or seasonal lets (around 400,000 units) or as second homes for Spaniards or foreigners, with an annual average of 50,000 properties bought. This, however, does not fully explain a problem that has become the biggest barrier to maintaining purchasing power in Spain and other parts of the world.
The shortage of sufficient housing in the country (especially in cities and autonomous communities under severe pressure), together with bureaucratic hurdles, overlapping regulations between different levels of government, poor urban planning and a lack of labour, also acts as a driver of price increases.
Rising prices and CO2 emissions, but not wages
The new T&E study also indicates that both Madrid-Barajas airport and Barcelona’s El Prat are set to overtake Schiphol in Amsterdam in terms of tourist arrivals in the coming years. Barcelona in particular plans to expand its terminals with a controversial redesign that could affect the La Ricarda wetlands, although the regional government led by Salvador Illa insists the project has been revised to ensure this does not happen.
Based on data from Eurostat and media reports, analysts estimate that over the past five years there have been 9.2 tourists for every resident in the Balearic Islands; 4.9 for every resident of the Canary Islands; and 2 for every Catalan, while the European average stands at 0.9. They note that Spain has invested 12.9 billion euros in airport infrastructure at Barajas and El Prat.
They also point out that in 2025, Spain and Italy exceeded their pre-pandemic aviation emissions, standing 14% and 10% above 2019 levels respectively. The tourism sector, they say, was already responsible for 8.8% of global carbon emissions in 2019.
Moreover, wages and productivity are not growing at the same pace as tourist numbers. In 2023, the study notes, hospitality accounted for 10% of all hours worked in Spain but only 5% of national gross value added, indicating low productivity in the sector. In addition, between 2008 and 2024, real wages in hospitality in Spain recorded a slight decline despite the sharp increase in arrivals of foreign tourists and the progressive rise in the minimum wage over the past eight years.
