Spain is no one’s second choice, on the contrary, for the Italian tourists who visit it it is often the first, and the numbers confirm this: in the first quarter of 2026, bookings of activities in Spain by Italian travelers grew by 18.43% compared to the same period of the previous year, more than the world average, which stood at +16.31%, according to data from the Civitatis platform.
The most booked cities: Seville in the lead, Madrid only third
In the top 10 of the Spanish destinations most chosen by Italians on Civitatis, the first position belongs neither to the capital nor to the Catalan capital. Seville leads the ranking, followed by Barcelona and then Madrid. Fourth Valencia, fifth Málaga. Further down Granada, Córdoba, Palma de Mallorca, Bilbao and Alicante.
Andalusia reigns supreme, with four out of ten cities coming from the southern region, and Seville, which for a long time lived in the shadow of the two largest metropolises, has managed to climb the preferences to the top. A sign that Italian tourism to Spain has become more mature, less tied to the obvious.
This is the complete ranking:
- Seville
- Barcelona
- Madrid
- Valencia
- Rum raisin
- Granada
- Cordoba
- Palma de Mallorca
- Bilbao
- Alicante
Activities: what Italians really do in Spain
Tickets for Seville’s Las Setas, the giant mushroom-shaped metal structure that dominates the Plaza de la Encarnación, are the most booked activity ever. In second place were tickets for the Oceanogràfic of Valencia, third was the tour of the Alcázar, the Cathedral and the Giralda, and Seville again. In fourth place, the visit to the Alhambra and the Nasrid Palaces of Granada.
Barcelona comes in with Casa Batlló in sixth place and Sagrada Familia in seventh. Madrid appears in eighth with the free tour of the Bourbon city and in tenth with airport transfers, while in ninth is the Camp Nou Museum.
Below is the complete ranking:
1 Tickets for the Setas of Seville – Seville
2 Tickets for Oceanogràfic – Valencia
3 Alcázar, Cathedral and Giralda Tour – Seville
4 Guided tour of the Alhambra and the Nasrid Palaces – Granada
5 Excursion to Ávila and Segovia – from Madrid
6 Tickets for Casa Batlló – Barcelona
7 Guided tour of the Sagrada Familia – Barcelona
8 Free tour of Bourbon Madrid – Madrid
9 Tickets for the Spotify Camp Nou Museum – Barcelona
10 Transfer from/to Madrid airport – Madrid
It is a ranking that says something more about the way Italians travel, who seem to be less inclined to rely on chance, so there is room for reservations and entrances to specific monuments and concrete experiences, to a lesser extent for generic tours.
The Spain that goes beyond the capitals
Civitatis also offers a less traveled Spain, waiting to be discovered, and for this we can mention the city of San Sebastián, in the Basque Country, with the free tour of the city and excursions to the French coast, or Santander and Cantabria, with the Cabárceno Park. Zaragoza and the Aljafería Castle. Destinations that exist, that work and that struggle to appear on the average tourist’s radar.
Added to this are the islands: the Balearics with Ibiza and Mallorca, the Canaries with Tenerife and Gran Canaria. Each with a catalog of activities ranging from catamaran tours to quad tours, from flamenco shows to nature excursions.
Civitatis: who is behind the reservations
The Civitatis platform is a world leader in booking activities and tours in the customer’s language. Every month more than 1.2 million people travel through its catalogue, which covers more than 4,000 destinations in 160 countries. In Italy it has a network of over 7,000 partner agencies and guarantees assistance in Italian from 8am to 10pm. The catalog ranges from guided tours to airport transfers, from entrances to museums and monuments to shows, from day trips to gastronomic experiences, with real-time confirmation and availability.
