Spain Travel Costs

These per-person figures assume two people sharing a double room. Solo travellers in private rooms should add 25 to 40 percent, and July and August add 20 to 50 percent to room rates on the coasts and islands.

The split changes with budget. Backpackers spend about 40 percent on beds and 30 percent on food; mid-range travellers spend half on the hotel; at the top end, rooms, restaurants and private transport take almost everything. Barcelona, the subject of its own Barcelona costs guide, runs about 20 percent above these figures because of its hotel prices and tourist tax.

Beds are the biggest variable. A hostel dorm costs €20 to €30 in Seville, Granada or Salamanca most of the year and €35 to €60 in Barcelona, Madrid and San Sebastián in summer. A pensión or hostal (a simple family guesthouse, not a hostel) gives you a private double with a bathroom for €50 to €80, and in towns such as Toledo, Ronda or Cáceres that is often the best value bed in town.

Mid-range hotels run €80 to €140 a night for a double in most cities, rising to €150 to €250 in central Barcelona, Madrid’s Salamanca district and Palma in high season. Four-star chains (Meliá, NH, Barceló, Catalonia) are good value outside the big two cities: €110 to €150 buys a pool and a central location in Málaga, Valencia or Bilbao. Paradores, the state-run hotels in castles and convents, start around €100 to €130 for a double in quieter places like León or Cáceres and reach €300 or more for the Alhambra parador in Granada; members of their free loyalty club get lower rates.

Holiday apartments cost €70 to €150 a night and save money on breakfast and dinner for families. Note that every licensed apartment now displays a registration number, and both hotels and apartments must collect a long list of guest details at check-in (see our Spain visa and entry guide). Book four to eight weeks ahead for Semana Santa, the Seville Feria, San Fermín in Pamplona and any summer weekend on the coast.

Food is where Spain stays cheap at every budget. The weekday menú del día, a fixed lunch of starter, main, dessert or coffee, bread and a drink (often wine), costs €12 to €15 in small towns and neighbourhood bars, €14 to €18 in Madrid and €15 to €22 in Barcelona. Served from about 1:30pm to 4pm, it is the cheapest proper meal in Europe and the single biggest money saver on this page.

In Granada, León, Almería and Jaén a free tapa still comes with each drink, so two or three cañas at €2.50 to €3.50 each make a light dinner. In the Basque Country pintxos cost €2.50 to €4.50 each, and a pintxo crawl in San Sebastián runs €25 to €40 with wine. Markets are cheaper than restaurants for picnics: bread, jamón, cheese, fruit and a bottle of wine for two from a market or a Mercadona costs €15 to €20.

High-speed rail is the best-value long-distance transport in Spain, provided you book early. Renfe’s AVE competes with its own budget brand Avlo and with Ouigo and Iryo on the Madrid to Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Andalusia corridors, which pushes advance fares down to €10 to €40 for trips of 2 to 3 hours. The table shows typical one-way fares; the low end is a promotional fare bought several weeks out, the high end a flexible or last-minute AVE.

Renfe’s Spain Pass, sold only to non-residents, covers 4 to 10 long-distance journeys within a month from roughly €215 in Standard class for four trips; it only beats single tickets if you are travelling at short notice in high season. Our getting around Spain guide does the full maths. City transport is cheap: a Madrid metro single costs €1.50 to €2 and a 10-trip card about €12, Barcelona’s T-casual is €13 for ten trips, and a taxi from Madrid-Barajas into the centre is a flat €33. A hire car costs €25 to €60 a day outside summer and €60 to €120 in July and August, plus fuel at €1.50 to €1.70 a litre and motorway tolls on the few remaining toll roads.

Spain’s headline monuments are priced in the €15 to €30 range, and the most famous ones sell out. These are the 2026 prices from the official sites.

Buy Alhambra tickets only from the official Alhambra ticket office: resellers charge double, and tickets carry the visitor’s name and passport or ID number. Churches, plazas, old towns and most city parks are free, and many state museums are free on Sunday afternoons and on 18 May (International Museum Day). Card holders under 26 or students get reduced rates at many sites.

Most of Spain has no tourist tax. The two exceptions that matter are Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, where the tax is per person per night, charged by the hotel, and usually not in the online price.

Catalonia. Since 1 April 2026 the regional rate outside Barcelona is €4.50 in five-star hotels, €1.80 in four-stars, €1.75 in tourist apartments, €0.90 in other hotels and campsites and €0.80 in youth hostels, and towns may add a surcharge of up to €4. In Barcelona city the regional rate plus the city surcharge totals €12 in five-stars, €8.40 in four-stars, €9.50 in tourist apartments, €7 in other hotels and €6 in hostels, and the Barcelona surcharge rises by €1 each April until 2028. The tax applies for a maximum of seven nights and under-17s are exempt.

Balearic Islands. Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera charge the Impost del Turisme Sostenible. From 1 May to 31 October it is €4 a night in five-star and four-star superior hotels, €3 in four-stars, €2 in one to three-star hotels and holiday rentals and €1 in hostels, pensions and campsites, plus 10 percent VAT. From November to April the rates drop to €0.25 to €1. Under-16s are exempt and the rate halves from the ninth night in the same place.

Cards, including contactless and phone payments, work almost everywhere, including metro machines, market stalls and most bars; carry €20 to €50 in cash for village bars, churches that take donations and the odd taxi. Use ATMs inside or attached to bank branches (CaixaBank, Santander, BBVA, Sabadell): independent machines in tourist areas charge €3 to €6 a withdrawal and push poor exchange rates. Always choose to be charged in euros when a card machine or ATM offers your home currency.

Tipping is optional. Round up at the bar, leave a euro or two after a menú del día, and 5 to 10 percent at a good dinner. Some terraces charge 10 to 20 percent more than the bar inside, and bread or olives you did not ask for can appear on the bill at €1 to €3.

Non-EU residents can reclaim Spain’s 21 percent VAT on goods, with no minimum spend since 2018. Ask the shop for a tax-free form (electronic in most chains), validate it at a DIVA kiosk at your last EU airport or port before check-in, and expect to receive 13 to 15 percent back after the refund company’s fee. The Canary Islands sit outside the EU VAT area and charge a lower local tax instead, which is why electronics and spirits cost less there.

• Eat your main meal at lunch. A €14 menú del día is the same cooking as a €35 dinner.
• Book trains four to eight weeks ahead. Ouigo, Avlo and Iryo fares start around €10 and rise as seats sell.
• Use free museum hours. The Prado, Reina Sofía, Thyssen and many regional museums have free evening or Sunday slots.
• Travel in shoulder season. April to June and September to October beat July and August by 20 to 40 percent on rooms, with better weather for sightseeing.
• Base yourself in cheaper cities. Granada, Seville, Valencia, León and Salamanca cost 20 to 30 percent less than Barcelona or San Sebastián.
• Drink the house wine. A glass of local wine at €2.50 costs less than a soft drink in many bars.

These totals cover everything inside Spain per person, sharing a room, and exclude international flights and insurance. One week assumes Madrid plus Andalusia by train; two weeks adds Barcelona and either Valencia or an island.

A sample mid-range week per person: seven nights at €55 (half of a €110 double) is €385; food and drink at €45 a day is €315; Madrid to Seville and Seville to Granada by train and bus is €70; local transport €30; the Prado, the Alcázar and the Alhambra together €53; a flamenco show €30; and a tourist eSIM €15. That comes to about €900 ($1,035). In July and August, or with Barcelona and its tourist tax in the mix, add 15 to 25 percent.