- Palma de Mallorca, Rome and Ibiza, along with other European cities such as Budapest, top the list of destinations.
- Valencia is the star of the show: departures from there have increased by 231.5 per cent thanks to the four-day weekend provided by its regional public holiday on 9 October.
The first long weekend of autumn, on 12 October, has become one of the most established events on the tourist calendar. Bookings made by Spanish customers on Kiwi.com, a leading travel technology company, for departures on Friday 9 or Saturday 10 October and returns on Monday 12 or Tuesday 13, have more than doubled compared with the previous year: the number of passengers has risen by 132 per cent and bookings by 129 per cent. This comes against a backdrop where average prices have risen by 22.7 per cent compared with 2025. The median price has also increased by 23.3 per cent, to 166.50 euros.
The rise in ticket prices is evident across all distances. Short-haul trips have seen prices rise by an average of 23.6 per cent; medium-haul trips, by an average of 24.2 per cent. In other words: Spaniards are travelling more and at a higher cost.
Spain is the top destination for this long weekend, ahead of Italy, the United Kingdom, France and Portugal. In the ranking of cities, Palma de Mallorca leads the way, followed by Rome, Ibiza, Barcelona, Budapest, Seville, Milan (Malpensa), Madrid, London (Luton) and Bucharest. Rounding off the top 15 are Málaga, Porto, Milan (Bergamo), Bilbao and Dublin. City breaks and sun holidays within Europe therefore dominate.
Beyond the classic Western European destinations, Central and Eastern Europe are gaining ground: Poland, Hungary and Romania have made it into the top 10 countries, whilst Morocco is the top non-European destination, in eighth place. In total, Spanish customers have booked flights to 53 countries for this long weekend.
Valencia: the impact of the four-day weekend
Valencia’s regional public holiday on Friday 9 October turns the national long weekend into a four-day weekend in the Valencian Community, and the booking pattern clearly reflects this. The number of passengers departing from Valencia has risen by 231.5 per cent compared with the previous year, the largest increase amongst the main departure airports. Furthermore, the distribution across the days has shifted earlier: Friday 9th is the day with the highest number of departures, but Thursday 8th already accounts for a significant proportion of flights, evidence of that extra fourth day. Their favourite destinations are Seville, Rome, Budapest, Milan and Palma.
By airport of origin, Madrid (20.3 per cent) and Barcelona (19.5 per cent) account for nearly 40 per cent of the long weekend’s passengers. They are followed by Alicante (10.5 per cent), Valencia (10.2 per cent) and Málaga (9.5 per cent), and then Bilbao and Seville.
*Data analysed: confirmed bookings made on Kiwi.com by Spanish nationals departing on 9 or 10 October 2026 and returning on 12 or 13 October, recorded up to 6 October 2026. The year-on-year comparison uses an equivalent window from 2025 (departures 10/11 October, returns 13/14 October) with the same booking maturity cut-off. Prices correspond to gross expenditure per passenger in euros. The figures represent confirmed bookings as at the cut-off date: further bookings will still be added before the travel window.
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Source: SERGAT Agencia de Comunicación