Cultural, sporting, and professional events, driving tourist activity in February in Destination Barcelona

The Barcelona Tourism Observatory: city and region publishes a new report on the Destination Barcelona tourism activity forecast for February.

Below are the main conclusions of this new edition of the report:

• Air capacity in Barcelona for February is estimated to be 4.5 million seats (+6.0% year-on-year).
• The Port of Barcelona is expected to receive around twenty cruise ships this month, slightly more than in the same period of 2024.
• Destination Barcelona will experience a February full of large cultural and leisure events: the Llum BCN festival, the Santa Eulàlia festivities in Barcelona city, the Fira de la Candelera in Molins de Rei, the eDreams Barcelona Half Marathon, various football matches, Carnival celebrations in different towns, and multiple events at Palau Sant Jordi.
• Twenty congresses have been confirmed in February, with an expected attendance of more than 155,000 people. The most significant event in the Destination during this month will be ISE (04/02-07/02), which could attract around 75,000 people.
• In February, China will have school holidays for the Chinese New Year celebrations until February 25. Additionally, several European markets, including France, the Netherlands, and the UK, will also have mid-term holidays.
• In recent weeks, Google searches for Barcelona city have shown an upward trend, although slightly below the same period last year. Among the most popular searches in the last quarter, we continue to find terms like “Barcelona” (also in French), “Sagrada Familia”, and practical topics such as accommodation (“Hotel Barcelona”). There is also interest in complementary destinations like Andorra and Madrid. Additionally, winter-related searches in the Destination have been listed as rising concepts.
• In the past month, Destination Barcelona ranked 9th in accommodation searches in the global online ranking compared to other international destinations, while in flight searches, it ranked 10th, ahead of Lisbon, Madrid, Dublin, and Vienna.
• Hotel bookings in the last month have been led by the domestic market, especially in the Barcelona region, where they account for more than half of the bookings. In Barcelona city, bookings from the U.S. remain the most frequent international reservations, while in the Barcelona region, the leading international market has been France. Six out of ten bookings were for couples.
• Currently, the reservation level for the next two months is below last year’s levels in both Barcelona city and the Barcelona region. However, bookings for April 2025 are higher than last year, likely due to Easter 2025 taking place later in April, compared to last year when it was in March, which may have shifted some bookings to later months.
• Compared to other European destinations for the next quarter, Barcelona city has a higher level of hotel reservations than Paris but lower than Madrid, London, or Amsterdam. Barcelona region’s bookings level is positioned significantly lower.

More information: Tourism Activity Outlook Report for Destination Barcelona (2025-II)