Holiday hotspot in Spain thats 'overrun with tourists' officially 'most visited place in Europe'

Spain’s holiday hotspot is officially the’most visited destination in Europe’.

Louise Brown May 22, 2025 Travel Leave a comment

According to a recent Which? study.

Consumer association analyses European Commission dataThe island will have over 51 million overnights in 2023.

There are 966,000 people in the city. Which? claims the data shows ‘just how overrun with tourists’ Mallorca has become.

Paris, on the other hand, is in second place with 44 million overnights compared to only 2.1 residents.

READ MORE : Spanish man stabs traveller at Mallorca airport

Dark blue is the color of areas that have the most overnights, which includes Mallorca.
PHOTO: European Commission

However, Which? It was noted that visitors to Paris are more likely than those to Mallorca to spend a longer period of time.

While the Balearic Island had the most overnight stays, it was not the most affected by ‘tourist pressure’, a metric calculated by the number of nights tourists spend in a region compared with the number of residents.

“For example if 100 tourists stay five nights in a city with 100 residents. The ‘tourist pressure’ figure would be five overnight stays to every one resident,” Which? said.

By this measure, Zakynthos, or Zante, in Greece, is the ‘capital of overtourism’ with the area’s 40,000 residents outnumbered by six million overnight stays.

This equates to the ‘staggering’ figure of 150 overnight stays for every person who lives there.

Next on the list was Istria, a so-called ‘hidden gem’ in Croatia with 133 overnight tourist stays per resident.

Fuerteventura (Canary Islands) and Lanzarote (Canary Islands) were the next islands on the list with 118, 117 and 118 overnight tourist stays respectively.

Read more: Mallorca sends a four-word message amid tourismophobia concerns

BUSY: Both the Canary Islands, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (pictured), received an incredible number of visitors.
PHOTO: Visit Lanzarote

Which? The amount of overnight stays per sq. kilometer was also calculated, and Paris came out on top, with 418.280 per sq. km.

Athens was ranked second, followed by Copenhagen, but the Spanish cities Malaga and Alicante were also highly rated, with respectively 17,493 and 5501 overnight stays per kilometer2.

For those looking for a more relaxing holiday, Which? Recommended Murcia, ‘the least visited part’ of Spain’s Mediterranean coast, with 486 overnight stays per km2.

Rory Boland Editor of Which? Travel commented: “These statistics show that the overtourism of some of Europe’s most popular locations has been overwhelming. There are so many wonderful places to visit in Europe. The truth is that you will have a better holiday if there are not thousands or hundreds of tourists in comparison with the locals.

Estonia offers stunning beaches and warm summer weather. If you prefer to stay in Spain, Murcia would be a good option.

READ MORE: Mallorca agent slams Spanish sellers for ‘profiting from foreigners while moaning about them’