This week at the ABTA convention, easyJet holidays CEO Garry Wilson predicted North Africa will continue to grow in popularity, thanks to its value for money, while demand for Spain could ease. | Photo: Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter
Humphrey CarterPalma16/10/2026 11:14
The UK and Spanish holiday market in late 2026 is reflecting the pressures of a persistent cost-of-living squeeze, changing post-Brexit travel realities, and rising prices. Despite strong overall passenger numbers returning to pre-pandemic levels this year, the market is approaching a significant turning point.
And this week at the ABTA convention, easyJet holidays CEO Garry Wilson predicted North Africa will continue to grow in popularity, thanks to its value for money, while demand for Spain could ease. Speaking during a panel discussion at the ABTA Convention in Madeira, Garry said: “I think Spain is a bit overheated in terms of capacity at the moment and we will see that slow down a little bit.”
ABTA’s latest Holiday Habits report, which surveyed 2,000 British travellers, found that 36% visited Spain – the most popular overseas destination – from August 2025 to July 2026, while there was a one percentage point increase in travel to Egypt, up from 2% to 3% of travellers. ABTA attributed the increase in demand to ‘good deals and good availability’.
According to the latest ABTA Travel Industry Report, rising costs have caused the post-pandemic travel peak to plateau. Fewer UK travelers plan to strictly protect their travel budgets for next year, shifting instead toward shorter city breaks and delaying bookings until the absolute last minute in hopes of catching discounts.
While Spain remains the most popular destination for British tourists, finding a cheap getaway has become exceptionally difficult. Average hotel room prices in Spain hit a record high of €166.90 a night, marking a 7.3% year-on-year increase.
Beginning December 1, 2026, travellers booking self-catering accommodation, apartments, or villas via platforms like Airbnb will face a new 10% VAT charge, driving up the cost of independent holidaying.
The long-term holiday market is also cooling off rapidly. Due to strict post-Brexit immigration enforcement—particularly the 90-day travel limit in any 180-day period—Brits are increasingly moving away from the Spanish holiday home market.
British buyers accounted for 22% of Spain’s foreign property market in 2016; today, that figure has plummeted to just 6.8%. While Spanish officials and tourism syndicates have held high-level discussions trying to broker a six-month compromise, no official bilateral exemptions have been put in place. Other nationalities, including Dutch, Polish, and German buyers, are quickly filling the gap.
Despite the impending rollout of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) biometric border checks, UK travel demand has shown resilience. However, the combined friction of digital border processing, localized tourist taxes, and high baseline prices means tourists are becoming much more calculated and price-sensitive regarding their Spanish holidays.
However, Wilson said he hadn’t seen much evidence of a real trend for cooler destinations during the summer months. “It would make a neat story, but for us, it isn’t reality at the moment,” he said, speaking as part of a panel.
“We launched Tromso and Malmo, and they’re very nice to launch, but sometimes as an industry we turn our back on the places customers really want to go in favour of these shiny new destinations – people still really want to go to Mallorca.”