Spain, the red-hot tourist destination that’s rivaling America’s economic growth

Tourism is booming in Spain, helping the economy rival even healthy US growth. It will also be a buffer against Trump’s tariffs.

Chilly winter weather did not deter American university student Lucy Lisberg from opting for lunch at an outdoor restaurant in Plaza Mayor, a centuries-old square in central Madrid, earlier this month. It’s her first time in Spain. “Everything here is a bit cheaper,” Lisberg, from the Chicago area, told CNN in the Spanish capital, where she was visiting friends before going to Italy for her junior-year study abroad semester. She’d been walking around, exploring the Royal Palace and the city’s main park. “I love it here. I think it’s beautiful,” she said, seated at the eatery with three friends, under sunny skies. “I love the architecture and the culture.” Tourism is booming in Spain, helped in part by an influx of US visitors. The sector has been a “fundamental” driver of the country’s economic growth in recent years, according to its central bank — expansion that made it the fastest-growing major European economy last year, which overtook even the healthy US economy, based on estimates by the International Monetary Fund. Spain’s gross domestic product likely increased 3.1% in 2024, the IMF said earlier this month, compared with an estimated 2.8% rise in US GDP. Growth in Europe’s fourth-largest economy was also robust in 2023, coming in at 2.7%. While Spain’s landmarks, museums and restaurants are popular with American tourists, its economy relies a lot less on US purchases of its goods exports than do other European nations. This means the country won’t suffer as much from tariff increases on imported goods promised by US President Donald Trump. There are many reasons for Spain’s strong economic performance since 2021, following the Covid pandemic. But “tourism is an important factor,” Carlos Cuerpo, Spain’s economy minister, told CNN’s Richard Quest late last year.