Christmas is a time for being with family and that typically means lots of travel, particularly for those of us who live in different countries to our loved ones.
It's also a time when many Spaniards travel to be with family from all over the country.
Flights
This year, Spain expects Spain expects more than 100,000 flights over the festive season, an increase of 7.8 percent compared with last year.
Spain’s airport operator Aena has revealed that there are a total of 101,793 flights scheduled between December 19th 2025 and January 7th, 2026.
The quietest day will be Christmas Day, December 25th, with 3,515 flights scheduled, 8.7 percent more than on the same day in 2024.
The three busiest airports will be Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, and Málaga-Costa del Sol.
Strikes at Madrid Barajas
Both the USO and CGT workers' unions have called for partial strikes at South Europe Ground Services, the ground handling service of the IAG group at Madrid-Barajas.
This means walkouts on December 23rd, 26th and 30th, 2025 and on January 2nd and 7th 2026.
According to a statement released by both unions, these partial strikes will take place from 8am to midday and from 6pm – 8pm.
They are demanding the correction of payrolls and schedules to allow for a better work-life balance.
This could mean some delays and more queuing for passengers flying in or out of Madrid on those days.
EES queues
Since October 12th, airports across Spain have been rolling out the EU’s new Entry/Exit System or EES in which non-EU citizens have to register, as well as get their photos and fingerprints taken.
This has meant extra queuing at several airports, while teething issues are ironed out. Airports which faced difficulties were Tenerife South, Málaga Airport and Alicante, where people reported having to wait for several hours.
Although, the situation has improved, the problems could return with the greater number of passengers flying through at this time of year.
Budget airline Ryanair has sent out a message to its customers this Christmas season in Spain, warning them to arrive in plenty of time for their flights due to potential long waiting times.
READ ALSO: Which airports in Spain are having problems with the EES launch?
Train travel
If you’re staying in Spain this Christmas, yet travelling to another area of the country by rail, you’ll find the train stations particularly busy too.
Between Friday, December 19th and Wednesday, January 7th, up to 22,160 high-speed, long and medium distance trains will circulate on the Spanish railway network, operated by Renfe, Iryo and Ouigo. Renfe alone will offer 2.6 million seats. The Madrid-Barcelona route will offer the largest number of seats, with 392,000 available.
Madrid’s Puerta de Atocha and Chamartín stations will be among the busiest in the country.
In the rest of Spain, Barcelona Sants station will see 2,613 arrivals and departures throughout the holidays, Zaragoza Delicias will have 1,407, Seville Santa Justa will have 1,778, Valladolid Campo Grande - 1,221, Malaga Maria Zambrano - 1,085; and Valencia Joaquin Sorolla - 1,007.
Bus travel
The Spanish Confederation of Bus Transport Confebús has also released its forecasts for this Christmas season, in which it forecasts that buses will transport approximately 8.3 million passengers, representing 37 percent of the 22.4 million journeys that the Spanish Directorate General of Traffic (DGT) estimates for this period.
Bus companies will increase their service offering by 42 percent this season, which will help to reduce the number of private vehicles on the road.
“We champion the bus as the most widespread mode of transport across the country and as a silent leader in sustainable mobility. We believe that both of these roles must be reinforced during peak road traffic times, such as Christmas,” stated Rafael Barbadillo, president of Confebús.
Car travel
Traffic authorities anticipate 22.4 million road journeys during the Christmas period. The most number of journeys will be taken in Madrid and Extremadura, making up 23 percent of the total, followed by Andalusia with 22 percent of the total and then Valencia with 21 percent.
The DGT has warned drivers this season about the importance of not drinking and driving, maintaining caution on short and nighttime journeys, and paying attention to adverse weather conditions.
There is "a high probability" of snow in the mountain ranges this Christmas according to Spain’s State Meteorological Agency Aemet. Northern Castilla y León and the interior of Cantabria could also see a white Christmas. When it comes to cities, Burgos and León are the most likely to experience snow this winter. Meteorologists have also said Lugo in Galicia could have snow at altitudes of 600 metres.
To help with the increase in traffic, the DGT has deployed more agents and there will also be more police officers on the roads.
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