Never before has the Spanish camping sector experienced a summer like 2022. According to data from the Federación Española de Campings (FEEC), the national average occupancy during the months of July and August was over 90%, with hundreds of campsites full for weeks, mostly between July 10 and August 20 – a figure higher than pre-pandemic levels. This data is made public by the specialized website Camping Profesional. Despite the excellent occupancy figures, the economic ones did not go hand in hand. The increase in the cost of supplies and basic products, as well as the decrease in daily customer spending (between 30 and 40% on average) affected the income statement of the campsites.
The north of the peninsula (Galicia – in the above picture the Camping Cachadelos – Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country) and the Mediterranean coast (from Andalusia to Barcelona) presented levels of occupancy never recorded before (95%). This value, although lower, was also very good in Navarra, La Rioja, Castilla-León, Extremadura, Aragon, and Castilla La Mancha, with almost 90%, while the Comunidad de Madrid stopped at 70%.
The best summer in history
“The industry had its best summer in history,” said Ana Beriaín, president of the FEEC. “Hundreds of thousands of families have placed their trust in a sector that has more weight in national tourism every year. Once again we were the second-best accommodation offer of the Spaniards with our bungalows, our glamping accommodations and our caravan pitches.“
But not all is gold. While the domestic clientele has increased by an average of 70%, the foreign clientele has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, the uncertainty over the coming autumn and winter, in which many foreign customers usually resort to Spanish campsites to spend long periods of time, makes campsites cautious in their annual closure forecasts.
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