Euskadi vs Madrid: which is better for Airbnb investment? (2026)

Bottom line

Madrid edges ahead of Euskadi on higher occupancy (37.8% vs 19.7%), stronger RevPAR (£46 vs £29).

Head-to-head metrics

	Euskadi	Madrid
Median occupancy	19.7%	37.8%
Median daily rate	£136	£133
Median RevPAR	£29	£46
Active listings	5,093	16,115
YoY occupancy	+3.3 pts	+6.6 pts
YoY daily rate	+26%	+40.5%
Regulation risk	—	—
Annual night cap	None	None
License required	No	No

Full analysis: Euskadi vs Madrid

On the money side of this comparison — what a listing actually earns against the nights it has available — Madrid finishes decisively ahead of Euskadi. Revenue per available night — rate and occupancy combined, the figure that actually reaches an owner — is 60.3% higher in Madrid: £46 against £29. Madrid sells 18.1 more points of its calendar — 37.8% median occupancy against 19.7% in Euskadi. That is not a rounding difference, and it compounds over a hold period.

On the mechanics of the yield the two are hard to separate. Euskadi runs 19.7% occupancy at £136 a night; Madrid runs 37.8% at £133. That leaves RevPAR almost level too — £46 against £29 — so operating quality, not market selection, is what will decide your return between these two.

That verdict needs a caveat, because Euskadi is not simply the weaker market of the two. Euskadi's calendar is the flatter of the two — 23.8 points between its best and worst month against 32.4 in Madrid — which makes debt service easier to underwrite. Euskadi is the less crowded of the two — 5,093 active listings to 16,115 — so a well-run property has fewer near-identical rivals to out-rank. If your model leans on that dimension, the ordering above can reasonably flip.

Neither Euskadi nor Madrid currently has a verified short-term rental regulation record in our register, so the comparison above is a yield comparison only. Regulation is the single largest source of downside in this asset class — an unverified market is an unpriced risk, not an absent one.

The two calendars also behave differently. Euskadi peaks in September at 57.2% and bottoms in December at 33.4%; Madrid runs from 69.5% in October down to 37.1% in February. Euskadi is the steadier of the two at 23.8 points peak-to-trough against 32.4 — easier to underwrite against a mortgage — while Madrid concentrates its return into a shorter window and rewards operators who price the peak aggressively instead of holding a flat rate all year.

Who each suits, then. Euskadi suits buyers who want a conventional, lightly regulated entry. Madrid answers to the same regulatory profile, so the split between them is operational rather than legal. It is also the momentum side of this pair. Every figure above comes from the same Inside Airbnb snapshot pipeline on both sides, dated 2026-09, filtered to listings with at least one booking in the last twelve months. Occupancy medians are drawn from 5,093 active Euskadi listings and 16,115 in Madrid.

Frequently asked questions

Is Euskadi or Madrid better for Airbnb investment?

Madrid, on the data we track. It leads on stronger RevPAR (£46 vs £29), higher occupancy (37.8% vs 19.7%), and higher median annual revenue (£16,897 vs £10,552). Euskadi is not the weak side of this pair, though — it wins on a flatter season (23.8-point swing vs 32.4).

Which has higher occupancy, Euskadi or Madrid?

Madrid, at 37.8% median occupancy against 19.7% in Euskadi — a gap of 18.1 points. That is a wide spread by short-term rental standards and usually reflects a structural demand difference rather than better hosting. Over the last twelve months Euskadi gained 3.3 points and Madrid gained 6.6 points, so the gap is widening.

Which has higher nightly rates, Euskadi or Madrid?

Euskadi, at £136 a night against £133 in Madrid — roughly 2.6% more. The nightly rate is not the whole story, though. On revenue per available night — rate multiplied by how often the room actually sells — Madrid comes out ahead at £46 against £29, so Madrid's cheaper nights are more than repaid by how often they fill.

Which has stronger year-over-year growth, Euskadi or Madrid?

Madrid, on occupancy: +6.6 points over the last twelve months against +3.3 points in Euskadi. Nightly rates rose 26% in Euskadi and rose 40.5% in Madrid over the same window. One year of movement is a direction, not a trend — weigh it against the regulation picture before treating it as momentum.

Which is the bigger Airbnb market, Euskadi or Madrid?

Madrid, with 16,115 active listings against 5,093 in Euskadi. Size cuts both ways: a deep market gives you comparables, contractors and an exit, while a thinner one means fewer near-identical rivals competing for the same search results.

How much can you earn from an Airbnb in Euskadi vs Madrid?

Madrid earns more: roughly £16,897 a year for a median listing against £10,552 in Euskadi. Those are gross booking revenues before cleaning, management, platform fees, furnishing amortisation and tax — budget for a meaningful share of them, and note that a median listing is a median operator, not a good one.

Go deeper on each city

Market guide

Airbnb in Euskadi →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

Market guide

Airbnb in Madrid →

Occupancy, ADR, neighborhoods, regulation

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