Easter boosts will kickstart the holiday season in the main source markets

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

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

• Air capacity in Barcelona for April is estimated to be 6.1 million seats (+8,0% year-on-year).
• It is expected that during the month, 85 cruise ships will arrive to the Port of Barcelona, below the same month in 2025.
• The cultural and leisure agenda will be marked by popular traditions related to Easter and Sant Jordi (23/04), with la Passió d’Esparreguera and la Passió d’Olesa (15/03-01/05), the Death’s Dance in Manresa (02/04), the Silence Procession in Badalona (02/04) and the Easter’s Dance in Calella (05/04). Musical events will also stand out, such as the concerts of Laura Pausini (02/04), la Rosalia (13/04-18/04) and Dani Martín (25/04), and sports events such as the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell (11/04-19/04).
• In terms of the conference and fair calendar, there are 30 confirmed congresses and almost 44.000 delegates in April. The largest event will be the Seafood Expo Global 2026, with around 30.000 expected attendees.
• The Easter Week will take place during the first week of April, and will bring holidays to Europe, Canada and Argentina. The United States, Netherlands, Belgium and France will also enjoy midterm holidays.
• In the past month, Google searches for Barcelona have been above the ones in the same period for 2025. The most popular searches in Barcelona city are the beaches and Sagrada Familia. Among the rising searches, beach-related topics and the Pompey exhibition in the Ideal Montjuïc.
• Hotel bookings in the past month have been led by the domestic market especially in Barcelona region, where they represent more than half the reservations. The United States have led the international market for Barcelona city, while France has led the international market for Barcelona region. More than 6 out of 10 bookings have been couples’ trips.
• Currently, the level of reservations for the upcoming months are higher than the previous year in both Barcelona city and especially Barcelona region. It is worth noting that this year Easter will be held between March and April, boosting March and moderating April compared to 2025.
• Compared to other European destinations, Barcelona city will have a similar level of hotel bookings as Amsterdam, and similar to the average from the cities mentioned in the report. Barcelona region is significantly below the aforementioned.

More information: Tourism Activity Outlook Report for Destination Barcelona (2026-IV)