The passage of the American artist Taylor Swift through Madrid in her two concerts of ‘The Eras Tour’ on May 29 and 30 is already generating an economic impact. Specifically, train trips from Spanish cities to Madrid have tripled and Madrid hoteliers have estimated an impact close to 20 million euros on accommodation, restaurant and leisure establishments.
The artist’s economic influence has been called ‘Swiftonomics’, referring to the ability of the tour – which has already been called the most profitable in the history of the United States – to generate movement, and in that sense, a study carried out The Trainline platform shows that on the Seville-Madrid route, the number of passengers has tripled during the week of the concert, while on the Barcelona-Madrid and Valencia-Madrid routes, they have doubled.
The Catalan ‘swifties’ (followers of Taylor Swift) have also chosen to attend the concert that the American will offer in Lyon, and that is why the figures for train tickets for the journey from Barcelona to the French city have tripled for next week .
The artist, who visits Spain for the first time in 12 years with a capacity each day that is expected to exceed 60,000 people, was the most listened to artist in the world on Spotify in 2023, accumulating a total of 26,000 million views over throughout last year and among Spanish listeners she was the fifth most listened to female artist.
Madrid hoteliers estimate an impact of 10 million euros
In the case of Madrid hotel occupancy, the hoteliers of the city of Madrid have estimated this Friday an impact close to 20 million euros in accommodation, restaurant and leisure establishments, as a result of the singer’s two concerts.
In a statement, Hostelería Madrid has detailed that the events scheduled at the Santiago Bernabéu will bring together around 52,000 attendees who will leave an average expenditure of 20 euros in the hospitality venues located around the stadium.
Furthermore, the organization has anticipated – as confirmed by the Trainline study – that 30% of the total audience, around 15,600 people, will be tourists who will travel to the Community of Madrid to attend the concert. In this sense, he has also pointed out that national and international tourism will leave an average expenditure of 280 euros per day in the city, with an average stay of two days.
The city council works to minimize the impact on mobility
For his part, the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, also highlighted this Friday the economic and brand impact that Swift’s concerts represent for the capital.
“For Madrid it is very important in economic terms because it will represent an additional injection to these summer months, but also in terms of brand,” the councilor stressed in statements to the media in Madrid Río.
Martínez-Almeida has indicated that the hotel sector has pointed out that there has been “a very significant increase in bed reservations” during those days and regarding neighborhood complaints, he has indicated that the City Council is working on the mobility plan “so that the conditions are as minor as possible.
In this sense, regarding the impact on the students of nearby schools, the mayor has stressed that “logically” they will have to have “the proper conditions of normality” to “be able to guarantee entry and exit” to the educational centers.
In parallel, Almeida has stressed that they are working together with the Government Delegation on the device to guarantee security in the organization of people who are going to go a few days before in order to get a better place. “We are working well with the Delegation, of course, to guarantee the best security conditions,” she explained.
Furthermore, as reported by the vice mayor and spokesperson for the municipal government, Inma Sanz, last Thursday, May 23, there will be two ‘fan zones’ and merchandising areas for the Spanish concerts of ‘The Eras Tour’.
A “multitudinous” tour
The magnitude of Swift’s economic impact can be seen in figures: Trainline estimates that concertgoers on her US tour spent an average of €1,300 per show, including tickets, travel and hospitality.
The average capacity is more than 72,000 seats and more than four million tickets have been sold on the American leg of ‘The Eras Tour’.
