After a year of contraction, Spain’s advertising market is showing robust signs of recovery. The latest monthly report from the auditing firm Infoadex reveals that advertising investment in Spain grew by 6.4% year-on-year in February, following a 3.2% increase in January. This strong start signals a potential turnaround for the sector, which saw a 2.6% annual decline in 2025, and points towards a powerful first quarter for 2026.
Digital Channels Drive Market Recovery and Expand Their Share
The engine of this resurgence is unequivocally digital. In February, digital advertising platforms accounted for 56.14% of the total 428.9 million euros invested, consolidating their majority share and growing more than half a point compared to the 2025 average. As a whole, digital advertising lines surged by 13.2% compared to February of the previous year, while traditional, or “non-digital,” media saw a slight contraction of 1%.
Search and Social Media Command Over Half of Digital Spend
Within the digital ecosystem, Search and Social Media advertising have solidified their position as the primary growth drivers. Investment in Search engines reached 67.7 million euros, a 7.9% increase, while Social Media platforms attracted 62.5 million euros, marking a 12.5% rise. Combined, these two channels now represent 53% of all digital advertising expenditure in Spain, a trend that the February growth rates suggest will only intensify in the coming months.
Websites Experience Exceptional Growth
Beyond the giants of Search and Social, the category of independent websites—excluding those of major traditional media companies—posted remarkable figures. Investment in this area grew by 17.6% year-on-year, nearing 30 million euros. This highlights a diversification within digital strategies, where brands are allocating significant budgets to targeted placements on relevant web properties alongside broader platform campaigns.
Traditional Media Shows Mixed Signals Amid Digital Transition
The recovery is not uniform across all media. Television, which suffered a 4.4% drop in investment in 2025, has shown a surprising and positive rebound. In February, TV advertising grew by 4.2%, indicating a potential stabilization. This growth is occurring within a context where digital is increasingly integrated into traditional media strategies; one out of every five euros invested in television advertising is now directed towards its digital extensions, such as connected TV (CTV) and broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD) platforms.
Cinema Advertising Continues Its Steep Decline
In stark contrast, cinema advertising remains the medium with the lowest investment volume and shows no signs of recovery. It experienced a severe 26% decline compared to the same period last year, with total investment falling to just 1.1 million euros. This continued downturn reflects the lasting challenges for out-of-home entertainment advertising in the post-pandemic landscape and its struggle to compete for digital-centric marketing budgets.
The Road Ahead for Spain’s Advertising Market
The consecutive months of growth in early 2026 paint an optimistic picture for the Spanish advertising industry. The data suggests that the market is not merely bouncing back but is undergoing a structural transformation. The acceleration of digital adoption, which was a defensive strategy for many businesses in recent years, is now becoming a proactive growth engine. The ability of television to grow alongside digital, rather than being entirely cannibalized by it, is a particularly encouraging sign of a more hybrid and resilient media ecosystem.
For marketers and agencies, the February figures reinforce the need for agile, data-driven strategies that prioritize digital channels while thoughtfully integrating traditional mediums where they retain audience strength. The pronounced growth in website and social media investment underscores the ongoing shift towards performance marketing and highly targeted audience engagement. As the first quarter of 2026 concludes, all indicators point to a revitalized Spanish advertising market, firmly steered by digital innovation but with room for traditional players that successfully adapt to the new landscape.
