In March 2023, Alicante had 71,211 accommodation places in tourist apartments; It was the second province in Spain with the most supply, behind Las Palmas, which exceeded 83,000. A year later, Alicante has increased its availability by 30%, up to 92,669 places, while the Canary Islands province has slowed its growth and remains at 82,862.

And the demand, being high, does not demand it as much, apparently, because according to INE statistics, last March the Costa Blanca was the fourth in travelers staying in apartments, after Tenerife, Gran Canaria and the Costa del Sol, when adding 78,732 travelers, 66% of them foreigners, which is 18% more than in 2023, when Easter fell in April.

It so happens that Malaga, which seems to have slowed down the increase in its supply, because it barely has 300 more beds than the 39,000 it had in March 2023, increased the number of travelers accommodated by 30% compared to the third month of this year.

As far as municipalities are concerned, València was the third on the Peninsula that hosted the most travelers in apartments in March, the month of the Fallas. There were 34,959 people (58% foreigners), almost double that of March 2023, and only behind Madrid (64,489) and Seville (39,628), and ahead of destinations such as Benidorm, Málaga and Granada. In the capital of Turia, the number of available places has almost doubled from March to March, according to INE data, since it has gone from 3,908 to 6,272.

In Spain as a whole, overnight stays in non-hotel accommodation (apartments, campsites, rural tourism accommodation and hostels) exceeded 9.2 million in March, with an increase of 31.4% compared to the same month last year. Overnight stays by residents increased by 63.7% and those by non-residents by 14.6%.

But, given that in 2024 Easter was celebrated in March and in 2023 it took place in April, it will be necessary to wait until the April data is available to analyze the two months together. Taking that into account, overnight stays in tourist apartments increased by 18.8% in the country as a whole. The average stay decreased by 5.5%, to 5 nights per traveler. The data from the Alicante municipality of Calp is striking, which with 10.47 days of average stay is only surpassed by a couple of Canarian towns.

In March, 33.6% of the places offered in Spain were occupied, 1.7% more than in 2023. The degree of occupancy by places on weekends was 37.1%, a level similar to 2023. 72.8% of overnight stays were made by non-resident travelers. The United Kingdom was the main issuing market, with 29.8% of the total.

The Canary Islands was the preferred destination for apartments, with more than 2.4 million overnight stays and an increase of 9.4% compared to March 2023. It also had the highest occupancy, with 84.8% of the apartments offered.

By tourist areas, the Island of Tenerife was the preferred destination, with more than 802 thousand overnight stays. The Island of Lanzarote presented the highest occupancy rate for apartments, 88.0%. The tourist spots with the highest number of overnight stays were San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Arona and Tías.

The Costa Blanca stands out among camping users, since it was their favorite destination in March, with more than 391 thousand overnight stays. This area also had the highest occupancy rate, with 84.5%. The tourist spots with the most overnight stays were Benidorm, Tarragona and Cartagena.