Spain’s airport operator Aena says its 46-airport network handled 10,943 commercial take-offs and landings between Saturday 3 January and Sunday 4 January 2026—the highest figure ever recorded during the opening weekend of a calendar year. Madrid-Barajas led the surge with 2,161 scheduled movements, Barcelona-El Prat followed with 1,831, and Málaga-Costa del Sol logged 873.
Two forces converged to create the spike. Domestically, the post-holiday “Operación Retorno” saw millions of residents return to their places of work before the Epiphany public holiday on 6 January. Internationally, leisure demand from the UK, Germany and France remained buoyant, prompting low-cost carriers Vueling and Ryanair to add double-digit seat capacity versus 2025. Iberia deployed wide-body A330s on selected European rotations to cope with heavier baggage and cargo loads.
Travelers grappling with the resulting surge in passenger numbers can simplify visa formalities through VisaHQ, whose online platform offers step-by-step guidance for Schengen, Digital Nomad and other Spanish visa categories. Corporate travel departments and individual flyers alike can complete applications, monitor status updates and access expert support at https://www.visahq.com/spain/, minimizing paperwork delays during this unusually busy period.
![Aena prepares for record-breaking 10,943 flights over Spain’s first weekend of 2026]()
Operational implications: Border-police staffing levels were increased by 15 % at Barajas and El Prat, with extra e-gates activated to process the larger-than-normal volume of non-EU passengers. Aena reported average immigration-queue times of 18 minutes—slightly above the 15-minute target but well below the 45-minute peaks seen during Easter 2025. Ground-handling firms drafted in reserve staff to keep turnaround times within slot-tolerance windows.
For corporate travel managers, the exceptional traffic means longer lead times in securing preferred flight times and potentially higher airfares on Europe-Spain sectors throughout January. Employers with assignees arriving this week should advise them to allow additional time for security screening and passport control, particularly at Madrid T4S where the biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) is now live for third-country nationals.
Looking forward, Aena expects January traffic to settle at 7–8 % above 2025 levels, driven by remote-worker inflows using Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa and the return of Chinese group tourism after Beijing restored outbound travel quotas. The operator said it will publish a revised summer-schedule capacity cap in February to ensure resilience during the busy Easter and peak-summer waves.
Two forces converged to create the spike. Domestically, the post-holiday “Operación Retorno” saw millions of residents return to their places of work before the Epiphany public holiday on 6 January. Internationally, leisure demand from the UK, Germany and France remained buoyant, prompting low-cost carriers Vueling and Ryanair to add double-digit seat capacity versus 2025. Iberia deployed wide-body A330s on selected European rotations to cope with heavier baggage and cargo loads.
Travelers grappling with the resulting surge in passenger numbers can simplify visa formalities through VisaHQ, whose online platform offers step-by-step guidance for Schengen, Digital Nomad and other Spanish visa categories. Corporate travel departments and individual flyers alike can complete applications, monitor status updates and access expert support at https://www.visahq.com/spain/, minimizing paperwork delays during this unusually busy period.
Operational implications: Border-police staffing levels were increased by 15 % at Barajas and El Prat, with extra e-gates activated to process the larger-than-normal volume of non-EU passengers. Aena reported average immigration-queue times of 18 minutes—slightly above the 15-minute target but well below the 45-minute peaks seen during Easter 2025. Ground-handling firms drafted in reserve staff to keep turnaround times within slot-tolerance windows.
For corporate travel managers, the exceptional traffic means longer lead times in securing preferred flight times and potentially higher airfares on Europe-Spain sectors throughout January. Employers with assignees arriving this week should advise them to allow additional time for security screening and passport control, particularly at Madrid T4S where the biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) is now live for third-country nationals.
Looking forward, Aena expects January traffic to settle at 7–8 % above 2025 levels, driven by remote-worker inflows using Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa and the return of Chinese group tourism after Beijing restored outbound travel quotas. The operator said it will publish a revised summer-schedule capacity cap in February to ensure resilience during the busy Easter and peak-summer waves.
