WHICH pest will Spain have battled most by the end of 2026? The year’s figures won’t be in until it’s over, but the latest industry data offers a strong hint.
Cockroaches have long topped the table, accounting for 39.1% of all enquiries to pest-control firm Rentokil in 2025, the latest full year of data. But bedbugs, in second place on 14.6%, are the pest on the rise, according to the company’s annual pest report.
It links their growth to tourism, business travel and high turnover in homes and accommodation.
READ MORE:
Those drivers are not letting up. Spain received a record 12.3 million international tourists in August and almost 70.4 million in the first eight months of 2026, up 5.4% on the same period last year, according to national statistics agency INE.
Bedbugs are most entrenched in Zaragoza, where they made up 24.75% of Rentokil’s enquiries last year, the highest share of any Spanish city. In the Madrid region the figure was 21%.
The report says the insects are no longer confined to hotels and short-stay lets but have become a settled urban pest in many Spanish cities.
READ MORE: Summer travel bug: Doctors warn heat and holidays are fuelling gastro outbreaks
It singles out Zaragoza as the city most vulnerable to infestations. Rentokil’s local office points to the city’s location between Madrid and Barcelona as the reason why.
In Madrid, the bedbug share is well above the national average. The report puts this down to the capital’s role as a transport hub, heavy business and tourist traffic, and high turnover of residents in some neighbourhoods and accommodation.
International arrivals in the Madrid region rose 13.2% year on year in August.
READ MORE: Bed bug infestation warning for major hospital in the Costa del Sol
Catalonia, home to tourist magnet Barcelona, fared better. Bedbugs made up nearly 13% of enquiries there, just below the national average and behind both cockroaches and rodents.
Rival firm Anticimex has reported the same trend, with a steady rise in its bedbug work since 2020. Its busiest regions were Madrid, Catalonia, Aragón, the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands.
Rentokil cautions that its numbers reflect demand for pest control rather than actual levels of infestation.
They are also shares of each city’s enquiries, not absolute counts, so a high percentage in a smaller city does not necessarily mean more bedbugs overall.
Official figures are scarce, partly because Spain has no legal requirement to report cases.
With the festive travel season approaching, Anticimex advises travellers to keep suitcases off the floor and bed, check mattresses and headboards for live insects or small stains, and inspect luggage and clothes on returning home.
Click here to read more Travel News from The Olive Press.