Big Business, Spectacular Sites, Fantastic Food – Reasons Why The Spanish Live Experience Can’t Be Replicated

2024 was a record year for many of Spain’s promoters, and 2025 continues along the same lines. This is the crux of the conversations Pollstar has been having with the country’s live entertainment professionals in the lead up to our fourth annual Spain Focus.

Nacho Cordoba, head promoter at Live Nation Spain, sums it up: “There are more shows, more demand, and audiences remain eager for live music. We’re seeing growth in both arena and stadium shows this year, especially over the summer months.”

Live Nation España’s stadium season kicked off with two sold-out Ed Sheeran shows in May, promoted by its subsidiary Mercury Wheels, and continues with stadium shows by AC/DC, Stray Kids, Imagine Dragons, Blackpink, Kendrick Lamar & SZA and Post Malone. At the arena level, Puerto Rican star Rauw Alejandro has five soldout shows between Madrid and Barcelona, and Lady Gaga’s three nights in Barcelona stand out.

Offerings of this magnitude attracts audiences from far and wide. “Concert tourism is well established in Spain,” says Cordoba. “People travel here for shows thanks to the ease of access and good weather, which has led to rapid growth. We are finding new ways to cater to audiences and artists alike. The growing trend for open-air artist residencies, in particular, is one that Spain is ideally positioned for.”

Speaking to the people behind one of the country’s most famous festivals, Primavera Sound, the good news continues. Founded in Barcelona in 2001, the festival celebrated “one of the fastest sellouts in our history for 2025,” according to co-director Alfonso Lanza, who’s confident that “Primavera is securing its spot at the very top globally.”

Lanza’s team has been gender-balancing the festival lineup for years, and this year’s edition can be considered a new gold standard: Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan – three female headliners under the age of 35, are responsible for the quickest sellout in the event’s history.

Primavera Sound’s audience appreciates the festival’s “deep commitment to curation,” and pays organizers back “with consistency and trust,” according to Lanza. This loyalty helps navigate a challenging economy, “Especially when it comes to keeping ticket prices stable, as we’ve done in recent years. We’re very aware that while around 60% of our audience comes from abroad, our ‘Created in Barcelona’ slogan speaks directly to the people who’ve supported us from day one. The key to maintaining this balance lies in having strong, long-term sponsor partnerships that bring real value to the festival, excellent industry relationships, and a unique venue we know inside out after 20 years of working there.”

Primavera Sound is but the flagship event in the portfolio of a growing, independent national and international tour promoter that’s constantly exploring new live formats and venues across the circuit. Lanza and his team remain “firm believers in the importance of club shows,” as exemplified by venues like Vol and Laut, both with a capacity of around 100 people. In 2025, the Primavera Sound SL group will be hosting shows at both venues by artists including Elias Rønnenfelt, Divorce, Boeckner and Cola.

“It’s more or less the same in Madrid,” says Lanza, “where we work with venues like El Sótano, which holds around 200 people, with some of the artists mentioned above. From there, we scale up to slightly larger venues such as Upload in Barcelona or Sala Villanos in Madrid, and even up to places like Sant Jordi Club, with 3,000 capacity, if we are not stepping into the arena-level circuit. Primavera Tours keeps up a relentless pace all year round.”

Supporting artists early on in their careers is something Live Nation’s Cordoba considers essential, and “the development of new artists is something that excites us all and is a crucial part of our business.” He cites artists like indie/dance group Delaporte, who Planet Events has helped grow from 200-capacity rooms to now performing on major festival stages and selling over 5,000 tickets in Madrid.

Live Nation Spain has also created “The Spanish Wave” national talent export program, which has brought acts like La Cendejas, Depresión Sonora, Sila Lua, Queralt Lahoz, and Izaro to an international audience in recent months.

While Barcelona and Madrid remain the firm musical centers of Spain, other strong markets complete the Spanish circuit, including Valencia, Seville, Bilbao and Pamplona. Live Nation has been developing Gozo Festival, a series of concerts across the cities of Galicia throughout the year, culminating in large shows at Monte do Gozo for over 30,000 people. This year, the bill features Lenny Kravitz, Alanis Morissette, Franz Ferdinand, Maná, and David Guetta, among others. Cordoba also sees “Valencia becoming a key destination for live events with the opening of its [Roig Arena] later this year.”

Spanish-speaking artists are conquering the world, including Latin American superstars. Both continents and cultures, aside from the language, share a “deep passion for music and live entertainment,” says Carolina Daza, head of entertainment at leading independent Latin company Cárdenas Marketing Network. CMN expanded its presence as a promoter in Spain last year, after teaming up with AEG Presents. “Our mission,” says Daza, “is to bring the best fan experiences in live music entertainment by championing bold, boundary-pushing talent that inspires audiences – and by driving innovation that moves the industry forward.”

The key difference between the Latin American and Spanish markets is infrastructure. “Spain tends to have more developed infrastructure for large-scale tours, allowing us to include more markets in a Spain run,” Daza says. In 2025, CMN-promoted runs include Marc Anthony’s highly anticipated summer tour, with 11 stops across the country. “We’re also thrilled about Victor Manuelle’s tour, which will bring him to six cities in Spain this summer.”

The biggest challenge for Latin artists making it in Spain is the concentration of touring schedules. “Most Latin artists tend to tour Spain during the same timeframes, especially around the summer festival season,” Daza explains. “This creates a crowded calendar, making it harder to secure headline dates and stand out, since audiences and media attention are split across many competing events. It also puts pressure on ticket sales and venue availability.”

One of the reasons the Spanish touring calendar is so incredibly busy is strong domestic talent. Live Nation, for instance, is promoting a huge arena tour by Fito & Fitipaldis, visiting 28 cities across Spain, beginning in November 2025 and lasting until May 2026.

One of the biggest tours for Clipper’s Music Group is one by Antonio Orozco to mark his 25-year career with a series of concerts in 25 Spanish cities. “In many of these cities, we’ve already sold out, and we’ve even had to add extra dates due to high demand,” says Clipper’s president, Juli Guiu Marquina. “Another key milestone is that we have started to produce large-scale concerts in stadiums, a big leap for us. A clear example is Aitana’s upcoming show at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, where she will become the first Catalan woman to headline a concert at this iconic venue.”

Clipper’s also celebrates the 25th anniversary of Cap Roig Festival this year, which, aside from a quality lineup, showcases the incredible concert and festival locations Spain has to offer. Just like another Clipper’s event, Les Nits de Barcelona is exemplary of the group’s approach to festivals, which is based on “creating a complete and memorable experience,” as Marquina puts it. “That starts with choosing extraordinary venues. We organize concerts in truly unique venues: from a botanical garden overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, to the gardens of a royal palace, to a natural valley surrounded by the Pyrenees mountains.

“These settings add an emotional and aesthetic dimension to the music that is impossible to reproduce elsewhere. Many of the artists we present usually perform in stadiums, but we invite them to play in these more intimate venues, where the acoustics, the proximity to the stage and the ambience transform the show into something truly special. Of course, this type of production comes at a higher ticket cost, but it’s also where we offer real value: exceptional sound, perfect visibility, an iconic venue and a carefully curated food offering that turns the whole evening into a complete cultural and sensory experience. We don’t just sell music: we create moments to remember.”

Given the saturated market, one has to come up with ways to stand out. “There’s a huge amount of competition, which forces us to differentiate not just through the lineup, but through the overall experience,” Marquina says. “That same saturation creates opportunities for those who know how to craft a distinctive, well-organized product with a solid artistic proposal. We also see opportunities in decentralizing events: bringing major shows to medium-sized or smaller cities is working increasingly well and allows us to reach more diverse audiences.”

Insatiable audience demand requires every part of the Spanish business to operate at the top of its game, and venues are no exception. Natalia Garriga is the director of Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi, and the city’s Olympic Stadium, as well as manager of the Parc Del Fòrum, the site of Primavera Sound. Garriga says the three main concerns guiding her work in 2025 are “adapting to the growing number of concerts, which involves improving spaces and services in order to optimize the booking; considering current trends so that new audiences can maximize experiences; and implementing and promoting sustainable practices.”

She confirms that business hasn’t let up since the pandemic, saying, “We’re seeing a growth in the number of live concerts, and the amazing resurgence of urban music.”

To meet the varied tastes and expectations from the Spanish audience, it helps to remain flexible as a building operator. A week in the calendar of Palacio Vistalegre in Spain’s capital Madrid, for instance, may include a movie shoot from Monday to Wednesday; a private congress on Thursday; an international metal act on Friday; a local rap star on Saturday; and a stand-up comedy show on Sunday, according to MD Daniela Bosé, who says, “Hosting a wide range of activities is normal for our venue. Fortunately, after the pandemic, we’ve had a sensational recovery of events, with a fab 2024 and an even better 2025.”

2025 highlights at Palacio Vistalegre include two sold-out dates by Gracie Abrams, one by Tate McRae, as well as The Offspring, OneRepublic, Baby Metal and Marilyn Manson, who returns to the venue for the first time in 23 years. The building’s calendar generally features an even split of international and local acts, who consider playing the venue a rite of passage. “To make a Vistalegre,” i.e. selling out the Palacio, has become a set phrase among locals, says Bosé.

The building celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Last month, it unveiled a stunning mural taking up its entire front, making it the largest mural in Spain. Created by the street artist Sfhir, it’s called “The Muse of Vistalegre” and depicts a woman playing the guitar.

Another Madrid building that has seen its facade change recently – not for artistic, but commercial reasons – is Movistar Arena, formerly WiZink Center, one of the world’s busiest arenas in any given quarter based on Pollstar’s arena rankings. The new naming rights partner is “more than a sponsor,” the building’s GM Manuel Saucedo says. “They are a partner that brings us their expertise as a leader in communication technology as well as in the entertainment industry.”

The 2025 lineup of Movistar Arena includes international and Spanish stars, including Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry, Maluma, Emilia, Dua Lipa, Kidd Keo, and more. Joaquin Sabina and Dani Martín will perform residencies of eight and 10 days, respectively. Artist residencies are “a major new feature in our programming,” according to. Saucedo, who says, “it will be a record-breaking year thanks to the already confirmed lineup. We’ll be hosting around 230 events, including sports events, plus over a hundred concerts in our new boutique venue for 750 guests, which is gaining great recognition in Madrid for its sound quality and programming.”

It’s hard to get avails at highly-sought-after plays like Movistar Arena – or the adjacent Sala, the boutique venue Saucedo referenced – but his team remains committed to giving international artists a stage. “We believe that any European tour should include a stop in Madrid, and we continue to fight to make that happen, despite the challenges we face in finding available dates on the calendar,” he says.

One building that proves there are great business opportunities for live entertainment outside the major tourist hubs Barcelona and Madrid, is Navarra Arena in Pamplona. A recent highlight reported to Pollstar Boxoffice was the Dec. 5, 2024, performance by Melendi, who sold 13,238 tickets at a $641,368 gross, promoted by Riff Music. “The local audience wants to see great artists perform in their own region, which is why we are selling so many tickets,” says Navarra Arena CEO Ramón Urdiáin. “Other Spanish cities where business in the live entertainment sector is booming include Valencia and Seville, which also host significant events and festivals. These cities demonstrate a strong regional demand for diverse entertainment.”

Comparing the building’s 2025 calendar with last year’s shows “an increase in international artists, and a great variety of events that includes concerts, family shows and sporting events,” says Urdiáin. In terms of new trends, the Kingdom of Rock festival hosted at Navarra Arena “may signal a growing interest in heavy rock events.”

With the Spanish business as buoyant as it’s ever been, it’s worth considering potential pitfalls to be encountered in the near future. Urdiáin says “adapting to changing consumer preferences” is one of this industry’s constant challenges. For Movistar Arena’s Saucedo, “The main challenge lies in the staging and creative design of the live experience” as technological advances open up new ways of integrating fans into the show. All while making sure fans, many of whom travel great distances, are able to afford a ticket.

Palacio Vistalegre’s Bosé says the “cost of living in general is affecting us all deeply, people are impacted by price increases. If basic products like olive oil or eggs have seen a stratospheric increase, just like traveling by car or by plane has, we have to accept that ticket prices also have to increase, but we cannot assume that everybody will be able to pay them.”

The opportunities, meanwhile, are obvious. In the words of Navarro Arena’s Urdiáin, “The live music industry in Spain has experienced substantial growth over the past decade. In 2024, for example, live music generated an economic impact comparable to that of football and greater than that of the cinema industry. This indicates a strong and growing appetite for live entertainment.”

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