For German tourism professionals, the window is open.
A hotel market that leaves nothing to chance
896 hotels, 92,485 beds in 2024. Up 5.7% and 2.1% in one year. Occupancy rate: 74.4%, one of the highest in Europe. Average daily rate: €134 in Q1 2025, up 9% year-on-year. When demand outpaces supply, prices rise and investors follow. That is exactly what is happening in Madrid. JW Marriott, Thompson by Hyatt, Conrad Hilton: the major international brands have already made their move. Spain’s hotel sector concentrated €2.773 billion in real estate investment in 2024, up 24% by Q1 2025. The time to act is now.
9 million tourists: chosen, not endured
9.13 million international tourists in the Madrid region in 2025. 7.85 million in 2023. +16% in two years. In the city itself, 56% of visitors are foreign. Total spending: €16.1 billion… up 21% in one year. Madrid doesn’t manage its tourist flows. It directs them. The regional government has made a deliberate political choice: attract high-spending international visitors and build the supply to match. This is not a market growing by accident. It’s a market being built.
German travellers: a segment that’s settling in
629,000 German tourists visited Spain in the first two months of 2026 alone, up 1.4%. More importantly: they are staying longer. The 4-to-7-night bracket is up 4.1%. Travellers who linger spend more on restaurants, culture, transport, experiences. For a German tourism professional, the signal is clear: their natural customer base is already there, in volume, with a growing appetite for longer, deeper stays. The market isn’t waiting for them. It’s ahead of them.
Setting up: the Madrid Region has already convinced the others
Labour costs 20 to 30% lower than in Germany. A 2026-2030 industrial plan explicitly targeting foreign companies. 93 accelerators, 122 university spin-offs. And one figure that says it all: Madrid captures 47% of German investment in Spain across all sectors. This is not geographical coincidence. It is a strategic choice that many have already made.