WHAT IS HAPPENING IN 2026 WITH GLOBAL TOURISMFROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SPAIN
The need—almost vital—for people to live new or repeated experiences through travel, whether for professional reasons, to discover other destinations and countries, or to enjoy vacation time, has become an everyday habit that feels almost obligatory and necessary.
This evolution has naturally and unintentionally led to significant movements of masses around the world, thereby creating great opportunities for business and development in many destinations. Paradoxically, it has also generated serious structural, social, and socio-economic problems, among others, in many other places.
Our concern, from a present and future perspective, lies in the impact that these mass movements are currently causing. This leads us toward real observations and studies of the many factors that have caused current situations, in search of ways to achieve a balanced and rational use of economic resources in the form of the positive benefits that the tourism industry provides—aligned with the resources and services it demands and the resources and services actually available to justifiably sustain them.
Initially, we will take into account origins, nationalities, types of demand, economic levels, and needs. In relation to each market and type of demand, we will analyze how the different offers at destinations were created and whether—or not—they took into consideration all the available and necessary resources required to meet those demands.
We will seek to identify the wealth generated by tourism according to the offers created at each destination, while simultaneously studying the evolution of their economies and development in line with the effects produced by growing demand. When such demand grows naturally but in an uncontrolled manner, it often leads to the collapse of destinations, affecting accommodation services, housing, security, public services, coexistence, and supplies such as water, electricity, and transportation, among others. These issues have frequently been patched up with precarious solutions, lacking both vision and long-term answers.
Today, in most tourist destinations, we are facing the phenomenon of uncontrolled overcrowding, which has undoubtedly created a serious imbalance between unregulated supply and a demand that is often disoriented. It is evident that, especially in large cities and major tourist destinations, the lack of control caused by illicit and illegal supply and demand reaches such levels that it confuses and damages not only the image of the destination but also its various economies.
Offers that blur and merge, harming public spaces and services, give rise to as much diversity in demand as in uncontrolled—and even illegal—supply. Leisure offerings proliferate and become overcrowded, feeding back into themselves, lacking regulation and certified quality.
We are also facing a gradual and increasingly severe loss of SERVICE, due to the lack of qualified personnel—a major problem that is becoming structural and must be addressed very seriously. Under no circumstances should we accept such a serious deficiency as a normal factor. We cannot normalize the fact that, due to the obvious lack of professionals and qualified personnel across all tourism businesses and service segments, the result is poor service and widespread dissatisfaction.
José Aleixandre Caballero:
Technical Director of Tourism Companies and Activities
