CIS - Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas

• Spaniards prefer sun and beach tourism, followed by cultural tourism and contact with nature, according to the latest study by 'Tourism and Gastronomy'
• 76.3% are in favor of controlling the expansion of tourist apartments
• The potato omelette is seen as the most representative dish of our gastronomy and there are more Spaniards who prefer it with onion and rare.

This summer, the CIS conducted a comprehensive survey on tourism and gastronomy, in which Spaniards were asked about their holiday habits and their preferences when it comes to eating and cooking.

Most people usually go on summer vacation for between one and two weeks (29.4%), followed by those who go for just one week (27.8%) and 19% who go for more than two weeks.

Regarding the type of accommodation, 45.2% use a hotel or aparthotel during their holidays, 12.5% say they rent a complete home/tourist apartment and in third place are the homes of family and friends (12.4%).

Furthermore, 90.8% say that having holidays, free time and recreational leisure are “very or quite important” for people. Only 2.8% believe that they are “not very or not at all important”.

Regarding tourist apartments, an issue that worries many Spaniards, 7.3% of those surveyed are in favour of controlling the expansion of this type of housing. 13.6% believe that it is not necessary.

Sun and beach holidays

More than half prefer sun and beach tourism (53%), followed by cultural tourism (38.3%) and nature tourism (36.7%).

86.2% say they “always travel with a partner, family or friends”, while 4% like to travel alone.

Spanish gastronomy

31% say they usually go to restaurants “two or three times a month”, followed by 30.6% who say they go “more than three times a month”, and 21.8% say they go at least “once a month”.

Regarding the amount of money that Spaniards usually spend when they go to restaurants, 56% say it is between 15 and 30 euros, and 26.5% say it is between 31 and 50 euros.

As for the motivation for going out to dinner, 62.2% indicate that their main motivation is to have social plans with family or friends, 25.4% is to “break away from the daily routine of cooking” and 15.4% say it is to “enjoy good food”.

Going out to eat or dine in restaurants on vacation

24.2% of respondents usually eat lunch or dinner at a restaurant two to three times a week when they are on holiday, 20.7% do so more than three times a week, and 21.1% say they do so every day during their holidays.

Regarding what Spaniards value most in gastronomy, 87.7% say that they place great importance on the pleasure of tasting it and 89.5% say that it is “the social relationships that accompany it”.

Paella, potato omelette and Iberian ham

Potato omelette is considered the “most typical and representative” dish of Spanish cuisine (66.2%) followed by paella (63.1%), with Iberian ham in third place (32.2%).

Undercooked and with onions

For 71.8% of those surveyed, Spanish omelette should be made with onion, compared to 21.3% who think it should be made without onion. In the debate on whether it should be “well done or undercooked”, the rare omelette option wins with 52.9%, compared to 28.3% who prefer it well done.

Food delivery

46.5% of Spaniards believe that home-cooked food is being replaced by fast food, compared to 26.9% who say that “home-cooked food is still the most consumed food.”

Regarding the main reason for this habit, 48.7% agree that the current fast-paced lifestyle does not allow much time for cooking, 13.2% point to easier access to prepared food and 12.6% say that there are more and more people who do not know how to cook.

46.7% of Spaniards say they use the food delivery service, and of these, 11.7% do so once a week and 3.5% from one to three times a week. These and other data are collected in the survey on tourism and gastronomy that was carried out from July 18 to 26 with a sample of 4,024 interviews.

Press release