The character and friendliness of the people, the aspect most valued by the tourists of Destination Barcelona

The Observatory of Tourism in Barcelona: city and region has published the monthly report on the Profile and Habits of Tourists in the Destination of Barcelona for May 2026, which provides data on the monthly tourist activity about the three usual geographical areas that the OTB covers Barcelona city, Barcelona region, and Destination Barcelona.

In this report, we can see how the typical tourist profile who has visited Destination Barcelona is that of a man (65.1%), with an average age of 40.1 years, who has traveled for leisure (56.4%) and who visit the municipality for an overnight stay for the first time (53.7%).

As for the travel group, while in Barcelona city the most common group of tourists who came alone (32.9%) in the Barcelona region were those who came as a couple (49.5%), followed by those who travelled as a couple in Barcelona city (31.6%) and those who travelled alone in Barcelona region (20.6%).

The plane has been positioned, for another month, as the most used means of transport to reach the Destination Barcelona (70.6%), to the detriment of the private vehicle (19.8%) and the train (6.5%).

For another month, when traveling within the municipality, the majority of tourists in Destination Barcelona have chosen to do it on foot (33.1%), with metro and on foot being the main means of transport within the city (27.3% and 25.3%, respectively) and on foot (48.6%) in the region.

On the other hand, 15.4% of the Destination’s tourists have made an excursion outside the municipality of overnight stay. This proportion remained higher in Barcelona region (29.7%) than in Barcelona city (5.7%).

During the stay, which 4.1 days on average, doing cultural visits (59.3%), shopping (54.8%) and going to the beach (45.8%) have been the most popular activities. It is worth noting that, while in Barcelona the main activity was cultural visits (76.0%), in Barcelona Region shopping was the most common activity (54.4%).

A -8.9% decrease in the expense during the stay per person per day has been observed compared to the previous months, with a value of €97.72. Also, as historically, most of this expenditure is still spent on food and drink, followed, in that order, by shopping, culture and internal transport.

The average overall rating of the city was 8.65 out of 10. The best rated aspects this month were the character and friendliness of the people (8.80), the personal security (8,36), the bars and restaurants (8.33) and the public transport (8.33). Noteworthy that while in Barcelona city the character and friendliness of the people (8.67), the public transport (8.60) and the bars and restaurants (8.42) were the most highly rated items by tourists, in Barcelona region it was the character and friendliness of the people (8.98), the personal security (8,79), the natural environment (8,78) and the accommodation (8.53).

More information: Results report. Profile and habits of tourists in Destination Barcelona May 2026