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In pursuit of balance: How wine is redefining tourism in Spain

As Spain grapples with the impact of overtourism in some of its most popular destinations, the country’s wine producers are pursuing ‘enoturismo’ as a positive way of educating consumers and creating new opportunities in less-visited areas.

The hastily painted graffiti appeared on a well-trafficked street during my yearly visit to A Coruña, in northwest Spain: ‘TOURISTS GO HOME!’

This coastal Galician city receives far fewer tourists than popular holiday destinations such as Barcelona, Ibiza or Benidorm, but even A Coruña – an increasingly popular stop for cruise ships from Germany, the UK and the US – has felt the strain of a rising tide of visitors.

It’s a tension being felt all over Spain. Earlier this summer, simmering frustrations bubbled over as protests broke out across the country.

spain tourism protest

Overtourism backlash: demonstrators march during a protest called by the ABDT group
(Neighbourhoods Assembly for Tourist Degrowth) in Barcelona, June 2025. Photo credit: ANGEL GARCIA/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES.

Angry locals picketed hotels and berated tourists sitting outside cafés, even spraying them with water pistols. Tourism, which according to official data accounts for more than 12% of Spain’s GDP, is being blamed for a medley of issues including gentrification of city neighbourhoods, higher housing costs and damage to the environment.

Other side of the coin

Despite its very real pitfalls, not everyone is against tourism – at least not in certain forms.

Many of Spain’s wine regions are putting their resources into ‘enoturismo’, or wine tourism. The benefits are compelling – in fact, tackling many of the issues caused by overtourism elsewhere.

Wine tourism redistributes visitors beyond cities into rural areas, helping to ease overcrowding. And it isn’t especially seasonal; there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy wine regions throughout the year.

It also creates economic opportunities in places where they might otherwise be harder to come by – an important countermeasure to the socioeconomic forces that created the so-called ‘España vacía’: large swathes of Spain’s rural interior that became depopulated as people moved away to find employment, particularly during the 1950s and ’60s.

Data reported by tourism organisation Rutas del Vino de España (Wine Routes of Spain) for 2023 estimates that wine tourism brings in more than €100 million a year in visits to wineries and museums alone – not including spending on accommodation, restaurants or tour companies, which is estimated to be in excess of €300 million.

Inland discoveries

With that in mind, Spanish wineries are making moves to attract more wine-loving visitors.

This article first appeared in the Spain 2025 supplement that accompanies Decanter magazine’s November 2025 issue.


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