How salaried and self-employed work differs across Spanish tourism

Food and beverage services had the largest headcount

An estimated 1.42 million people worked in food and beverage services, compared with about 581,000 in accommodation and 700,000 in passenger transport. Food and beverage services alone accounted for about 44% of total tourism-related employment in the release. Source 1

Accommodation had fewer self-employed people per hundred workers

The survey estimated about 27,000 self-employed people in accommodation, against 244,000 in food and beverage services. Their shares of employment were 4.7% and 17.2% respectively. The other tourism activities group had the largest reported self-employed share of the four at 19.7%. Source 1

Passenger transport recorded the fastest employment growth

Employment in passenger transport rose 8.8% from the third quarter of 2025, compared with 5.1% in accommodation and 4.8% in food and beverages. The release compares the 2026 industry classification with equivalent activities in the older classification. Source 1

The sector estimate follows industries

Turespaña groups activities characteristic of tourism, including accommodation, food service, passenger transport and selected cultural, booking and rental activities. Those businesses also serve residents. The estimate counts workers in the classified industries and cannot identify which jobs depend exclusively on visitor spending. Source 1 Source 2

Sources

• Turespaña, INE Labour Force Survey tourism analysis, third quarter 2026, page 4
• Turespaña, tourism employment survey series and methodology