If you’re visiting Europe later this year and were planning to buy budget airline tickets to Spain, take note: Ryanair is cutting one million seats to Spain this autumn and winter.
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On Wednesday, September 10, 2025, Ryanair announced plans to slash its services to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands for the rest of the year and into next year. According to Ryanair, the budget carrier will suspend 400,000 seats from the Canary Islands and another 600,000 seats to mainland Spain.
That’s a 10% dip from traditional Canary Island numbers, and a 41% dip for the rest of the country.
Why has Ryanair decided to nix so many routes to and from Spain? And which budget airlines should you fly in and out of Spain on your next Euro trip?
Inside Ryanair’s decision to cut routes to/from Spain
Earlier this year, Spain’s airport operating authority, Aena, decided to raise airport charges across the country. This is partly in response to ongoing anti-tourism sentiment, which has been particularly rampant throughout the Canary Islands. (Islands have less space, meaning the impacts of irresponsible tourism are even more blatant and problematic.)
Aena is raising its airport fees by 6.6% starting in 2026, which Ryanair has dubbed as too non-competitive for their budget needs. With the increase, Spain’s airport fees will reach their highest rate in ten years.
As CEO Eddie Wilson put it, the ‘monopolistic airport operator has no interest in developing traffic at Spain’s regional airports’. To clarify, Ryanair will only be nixing or limiting its operations in smaller airports, like Zaragoza. Meanwhile, it will look to increase traffic at hubs like Madrid and Barcelona.
But this situation isn’t new; early this year, Ryanair planned to cut almost 20% of its flights to/from Spain due to ongoing issues with Aena. In response, Aena told the airline to ‘calm down’, saying that the company’s tone and approach was ‘difficult not to interpret as blackmail’.
What does Ryanair’s new operational outlook mean for the average traveler?
Given Ryanair won’t be altering its service to and from major hubs, I think the average American traveler won’t notice the change in service. Additionally, Ryanair is only one of many budget carriers that offer service around Spain. Vueling is the nation’s largest domestic provider, followed by Easyjet and WizzAir.
Book a flight with another carrier, if needed. You won’t notice much of a difference in terms of pricing or experience.
