Why is mass tourism such a problem in Spain but not in France?

Shorouk Express

Since 2010, France has welcomed an average of 77.8 million international tourists per year.

However, France broke the 100 million visitor ceiling in 2024, crowning itself as the most visited country in the world once again, even though Spain was very close behind with its own record of 94 million international travellers.

Despite the popularity the neighbouring countries enjoy, France doesn’t seem to be as affected by mass tourism as much as Spain.

Last year, there were dozens of anti-tourism protests across Spain, from Barcelona to Málaga and from the Balearics to the Canaries, but in France there were none.

So why is overtourism more of a problem in Spain than it appears to be in France?

READ ALSO: How Spain’s anti-tourism movement also has an impact on foreign residents

Contrary to popular belief, France has suffered from some of the knock-on effects of mass tourism, but they seems to be primarily concentrated in specific areas such as Paris, Mont-Saint-Michel and the Calanques national park, for example. Some of these places have even had to put visitor caps to cut down numbers.

One of the key factors in the Gallic ability to keep mass tourism at bay is that sights in France tend to be more spread out than they are in Spain, where there is a huge contrast between the overdeveloped and overpopulated coast and the empty interior.

Matt Philipps Managing Editor of travel app Polarsteps told The Local: “Spain’s tourism is heavily concentrated in coastal areas and a few major cities, while France spreads its tourists across many different regions and types of destinations, from the Loire Valley châteaux to the French Alps, from Provence to Normandy, and from wine regions to small historic villages”.

Rosie Mansfield from canal boat holiday specialists French Waterways agrees, saying “France has a highly developed tourism offering, with greater geographic spread throughout the country”.

Spain’s tourism industry is largely focused along the Mediterranean coastline with a huge surge in visitors in places like Barcelona, the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.

READ ALSO: How Valencia is becoming another Barcelona, in the bad sense

The popular destinations for tourists are also the places that have the biggest populations, as around 60 percent of the population of Spain live in coastal areas. In the case of the Canaries and the Balearics, their high population density is also an Achilles heel when it comes to overtourism.

This has resulted in a big clash between locals and tourists, as they’re all vying for the same space.

In truth, most of the so-called anti-tourism protests were largely demonstrations about the impact Airbnb-style lets are having on housing for residents rather than tourism per se, more specifically on how they have driving rental prices up and driving locals out of certain areas.

Spain’s uneven population distribution is another reason why France’s tourism industry appears more balanced.

According to Spain’s Ministry for Territorial Policy, 90 percent of the country’s population lives in 1,500 towns and cities occupying 30 percent of the land while the other 10 percent are distributed across the remaining 70 percent of the territory.

Forty-two percent of Spanish towns are at further risk of depopulation, which could in fact very much do with the income tourism generates, as well as the increase in services.

One of the main reasons for the existence of what’s become known as ‘Empty Spain’ is climate, as much of the interior of the country remains far too hot in the summers and also experiences very cold, harsh winters. Most people prefer to live along the coastlines where the climate doesn’t fluctuate to such extremes.

Tourism in coastal areas also means more jobs, so more people want to move there and away from rural areas dwindling populations and no work.

Tourists in Spain tend to flock to the coasts. Photo: Thomas COEX / AFP

In France on the other hand, there are not as many empty swathes of the country and the population is more spread out too. The Ile-de-France region, also known as the Paris region, is the most populous in country, but there are other big cities in the interior of the country such as Lyon, Toulouse and Strasbourg for example. Not all of France’s tourist hotspots lie along the coast and holidaymakers and locals are generally not all in the same places, with the exception of Paris.

Big French tourist destinations like Provence and the Loire Valley are also located inland.

READ ALSO: Spain sees record 88.5 million visitors despite anti-tourism backlash

Another key point is the fact that type of travellers that both Spain and France attract are typically very different.

For a long time Spain has attracted those wanting cheap package holidays in resort areas, as well as ‘booze’ tourism in places such as the Balearic Islands, the Canaries, Barcelona, the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.

READ MORE: Why Spain is a cheap mass tourism destination

“We don’t tend to get the same kind of foreign tourists in France – it’s not a party/drinking holiday destination in the same way as some parts of Spain are,” says Emma Pearson, Editor of The Local France.

Simon Richards from Provence Holidays also believes this is an important factor. “Spain has a stronger dependence on mainstream tourism operators, package holidays and all inclusive resorts – which drives mass tourism that can cause a strain on infrastructure.

France, on the other hand, has a higher proportion of independent travel agencies who operate a boutique, locally-driven approach that champions positive tourism,” he explains.

The rise of stag and hen dos to Spain has also played its part in driving large groups to certain areas. Tom Bourlet who works for The Stag Company admits “We don’t send any stags or hens from the UK to France, in contrast, Benidorm was our top selling destination in 2024, while we also sent thousands of groups of young Brits to Barcelona and Magaluf”.

Most France experts also stated that Spain’s next door neighbour is so much better at handling greater numbers of tourists than Spain and has a better infrastructure as the French themselves holiday so often within their own country and own so many holiday homes.

However, this is also true of the Spanish, so it doesn’t seem to be as important a factor. According to the Travel Report 2024 from online bank Revolut, more than half of Spaniards prefer to holiday within Spain. Real estate agency RE/MAX Europa also revealed that one in five Spanish families own a vacation home.

France may have more second homes – a total of 10 percent of the country’s properties are used as vacation homes – but it’s clear that the Spanish holiday a lot within their own country too and do have the infrastructure for it. The crucial point, however, again could be location, as Spaniards tend to prefer holiday homes on the coast to escape the heat in the cities over the summer.

Several French travel experts The Local Spain interviewed also cited that the sheer variety of activities and destinations offered helps to spread tourists out across the country.

“Along with giving tourists reasons to visit more destinations from a geographical perspective, France is more known (better marketing?) for greater diversity of holiday activities by comparison to Spain. Yes of course, coastal beach resorts but also skiing / snowboarding, camping, mountain biking / cycling, hiking, wine tours, culinary experiences, UNESCO World Heritage & WWII sites, canal & river trips etc” Mansfield from French Waterways told The Local.

Yet again, Spain offers all that too, there are dozens of ski resorts scattered across the Pyrenees, and further south in the Sierra Nevada, there are 16 national parks and hundreds of natural parks full of places for hiking and cycling. Each region in Spain also has its own unique cuisine, from pintxos in the Basque Country to paellas in Valencia, and there are dozens of wine regions just as important as Bordeaux and the Champagne region like La Rioja, Ribera del Duero and the Penedès for Cava in Catalonia. It also boats 50 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, while France is only just ahead with 53.

But perhaps Mansfield has hit the nail on the head when she questions whether France is better is better at marketing these destinations and activities. Spain offers just as much as France, but perhaps tourists aren’t going to these rural destinations as much as they simply don’t know about them.

In recent years the Spanish Tourism Board has been trying to change all this, creating campaigns on sustainable destinations and more inland tourism, but this all takes time.

What seems clear is that above all, the impact Airbnb-style lets have had on Spanish rental and property prices in recent years is why so many Spaniards feel their country has an overtourism problem, whilst for the French this isn’t the case as much.

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