My family is planning a trip to Spain in January 2026. We're looking around January 16-24, which includes the MLK holiday in the US (and my kids have a week off from school). I've noticed that hotel prices in both Madrid and Barcelona are notably higher around January 20-24 than the previous or the following week. Is there a holiday or some sort of festival happening around this time? I haven't been able to find anything that would suggest a reason for this price increase. Additionally, I'm wondering if crowds will be high during this time. I was assuming this would be a low-crowd time to visit!
Posted by
Queens, NYC
588 posts
FITUR (the International Tourism Fair) will be held 21-25 January 2026 in Madrid, though I don't know if this explains it all or what's going on in Barcelona.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7883 posts
As Andrew mentioned, whenever a convention or fair is in a city, hotel rates double or triple.
In Madrid in 2019 we stayed at a hotel before our 5 day Camino walk and it was €80 a night. The same hotel less than two weeks later was €240 a night because a world medical conference was in town. If you really want to see a price change check out hotel prices in Pamplona for mid-May, for example, then for when the San Fermín festival (running of the bulls) is taking place. Prices jump about 700%.
Posted by
OP
6 posts
Ironic that a conference of tourism professionals might mess with my trip! Thanks for that bit of info.
Posted by
12 posts
There aren’t any major national holidays in Spain during that time, but Madrid’s Inverfest (a big winter music and arts festival) runs through January and may explain the spike. Also, January 20 is La Tamborrada in San Sebastián, which could affect regional travel. That said, January is still generally a low-crowd season, so it shouldn’t feel too busy.