The World Cup multiplies by 33 the searches for flights to Spain from China

A Spanish merchant who wants to accept payments with Alipay or WeChat Pay does not need to obtain their own financial license: the procedures involve signing a contract with a bank or payment service provider already authorized under Spanish/EU regulations (PSD2) that integrates these methods (for example, platforms that have incorporated international wallets, as illustrated by the integration of Alipay+ in Adyen according to Adyen expands its offer). On that basis, the merchant must comply with the general rules of payment services, anti-money laundering, and data protection, similar to those already applied if they accept card or Bizum payments, as the newspaper Demócrata reminds when explaining that mobile payments are subject to PSD2, anti-money laundering regulations, and GDPR in Bizum Pay arrives at stores. There is no specific official guide for Alipay/WeChat Pay in the sources, so the requirements are the general ones for any electronic payment.

1. Relationship with the payment service provider

In practice, a retail merchant does not contract directly with Alipay or WeChat Pay, but with:

• Their acquiring bank, if it offers acceptance of these wallets within the physical or online POS.
• A payment gateway (PSP) that integrates international payment methods. Platforms like Adyen have incorporated solutions such as Alipay+ in their offer for physical point of sale, according to this Alimarket news.

The main commercial procedures are:

• Negotiating and signing the payment service contract with the bank/PSP (commissions, settlement periods, fraud liabilities, etc.).
• Configuring the physical or virtual POS to accept the new method (software update, registration in the PSP panel, technical tests).
• Ensuring that the price and conditions information shown to the customer complies with financial transparency rules, in line with Order ECE/1263/2019 on transparency in payment services.

2. Regulatory framework of payment services

In Spain, the transposition of the European PSD2 Directive has been carried out, among other regulations, through the Royal Decree-Law 19/2018 on payment services, and its regulatory development:

• Royal Decree-Law 19/2018 on payment services.
• Royal Decree 736/2019 on the legal regime of payment services and payment institutions.

These regulations govern who can provide payment services, prudential requirements, and information and security obligations. According to the Bank of Spain, providers operating on electronic money or other instruments must be authorized as payment or electronic money institutions or associate with someone who is, even in areas such as crypto-assets, as recalled in the note on authorization under PSD2 in this communication from the Bank of Spain.

For wallets like Alipay or WeChat Pay, which operate as electronic wallets, the electronic money regulations are also relevant:

• Law 21/2011 on electronic money.
• Royal Decree 778/2012 on electronic money institutions.

These regulations define electronic money, who can issue it, and under what conditions. The merchant does not become an issuer of electronic money by accepting payments; the issuer and the PSP assume those obligations.

3. Anti-money laundering prevention

The Demócrata article on Bizum emphasizes that mobile payments are subject to anti-money laundering regulations, which require identifying customers and controlling certain operations (Bizum Pay arrives at stores). This logic also applies to payments with foreign electronic wallets: the bulk of compliance falls on the supervised payment or electronic money institution, but the merchant must:

• Collaborate with the PSP/bank if it requires certain information for risk controls or audits.
• Keep sales documentation and payment receipts, as with any other payment method.
• Respond, if necessary, to information requests from the Tax Agency or financial authorities, in line with reinforced reporting obligations being developed (for example, around card and mobile payments, according to Order HAC/747/2025).

4. Data protection and security

The newspaper Demócrata reminds that electronic payments are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as they involve processing personal and financial information (Bizum Pay arrives at stores). For a merchant incorporating Alipay or WeChat Pay, this implies:

• Including these payment methods in their record of processing activities as part of sales and collections management.
• Signing the data processing agreements that apply with the PSP, if it processes data on behalf of the merchant (for example, customer data in online payments).
• Informing the customer, in their privacy policy, that their data may be communicated to international payment providers to execute the transaction.

In parallel, PSD2 requires strong authentication and high security standards, which are implemented in the PSP's technology; the merchant must respect the defined payment flows (not improperly storing credentials, not circumventing security measures, etc.).

5. Short-term regulatory trends

The Government has approved the Draft Law on Digitization and Modernization of the Financial Sector, which adapts the Spanish legal system to the European instant payments regulation and strengthens the role of payment and electronic money institutions in payment systems, as stated in the official note from the Ministry of Economy in this statement. Although it does not specifically refer to Alipay or WeChat Pay, it points to an environment where acceptance of multiple wallets and digital methods will be increasingly common and more clearly framed within European instant payments regulation.

Aena does not have its own "tourism competence" as Turespaña or the autonomous communities might have, but its role as manager of the network of airports of general interest gives it a decisive function in promoting international tourism: it plans and operates infrastructure, encourages routes, collaborates with tourism administrations, and provides market intelligence to airlines and destinations. All this is framed within a legal regime in which the State retains exclusive competence over airports of general interest and Aena exercises business management subject to private law. Through agreements and specific programs, Aena has become a key lever to project Spanish destinations abroad and diversify the arrival of international tourists.

Legal framework and basic competencies of Aena

According to various reports collected by the newspaper Demócrata, Aena recalls that the Constitution assigns exclusive competence over airports of general interest to the State and that the management of these corresponds to the airport manager, also protected by the freedom of enterprise under article 38 CE. In news about the State–Basque Country pact, the Ministry of Transport itself emphasizes that the regional participation provided in Law 18/2014 is consultative and not decisive, and that it does not alter "the network of airports of general interest nor Aena's business model," as detailed in this piece and in this analysis.

Formally, the BOE describes Aena as a state-owned commercial company in charge of airport management, with its own legal personality and subject to private law, in the resolution on the joint participation agreement in FITUR 2026 (BOE FITUR 2026). That same agreement highlights that its participation in tourism fairs falls within the scope of action defined in its statutes, that is, that promotion associated with its airports is considered part of its infrastructure management function serving the general interest.

Air connectivity and coordination with tourism administrations

The main vector of Aena's tourism promotion is international air connectivity. The Ministry of Transport details that among the lines of work Aena has promoted in recent years are:

• Collaboration with local and regional institutions and entities responsible for tourism promotion.
• Market intelligence to detect potential routes, develop business cases, and present them to airlines.
• Assistance at international fairs to promote the versatility and competitive advantages of the airports.
• Tariff incentives for airports with less traffic, aimed at attracting new routes and passengers.

All this is included in the note from the Andalusian Airport Coordination Committee (Transport Ministry note), where the objective of "promoting the economic and tourism development of the region" is made explicit.

At the state tourism level, Turespaña and Aena have institutionalized Air Connectivity Conferences, conceived as a public-private forum between destinations, airlines, and promotion bodies. Turespaña's notes on the Santander 2025 editions (Santander conferences) and Reus 2026 (Reus balance, Reus announcement) highlight that:

• They seek to "boost the development of international air connectivity."
• Aena provides "information and market intelligence" so airlines can analyze the potential of each destination.
• One-to-one meetings between destinations and companies serve to open and consolidate new routes.

Demócrata summarizes this function by stating that "Aena's airport network is a key lever for the development and international projection of our destinations," in its report on the 5th Conference (Demócrata article).

Incentives, statistics, and promotional actions

On the economic-regulatory level, Aena uses its margin as manager to offer incentive programs to airlines at regional airports, with 100% refunds of certain fees per additional passenger, with the explicit goal of strengthening connections—including international ones—at lower-traffic facilities. This policy has been detailed by Demócrata in this information and connects with the debate on DORA III and fees covered in this CNMC analysis, this Aena defense, and the Tourism Board's position.

Regarding tourism statistics, Aena collaborates with the INE through an information exchange agreement for the preparation of FRONTUR and EGATUR, extended by resolution published in the BOE (INE–Aena addendum). These data are essential to design international tourism promotion policies by measuring flows and spending of visitors arriving by air.

Additionally, airports are used as support for institutional campaigns. Turespaña's "Travel Unites Us" campaign for World Tourism Day is displayed in more than fifteen airports in Aena's network (Turespaña note; Demócrata coverage in this article), reinforcing Spain's image among international travelers.

Finally, Aena explores "screen tourism" through an agreement with Spain Film Commission, turning its airports into priority filming locations to consolidate Spain as an attractive destination, as Demócrata reports in this news.

Participation in tourism fairs and forums

Aena's joint presence with other major public infrastructure operators at FITUR 2026 is organized through an agreement published in the BOE (FITUR agreement), where the objective is to showcase in a coordinated way the mobility and accessibility offer that supports tourism in Spain. In parallel, Turespaña and Aena jointly participate in specialized fairs such as Routes Europe 2025, focused on developing new routes (Routes Europe note), reinforcing the idea that international tourism promotion today largely depends on planning air connectivity.

In summary, the legal framework reserves normative competence to the State and business management of airports to Aena; within that perimeter, the manager deploys a wide range of actions—incentives, data, connectivity forums, campaigns, and fair presence—that make it a central, though not exclusive, actor in promoting international tourism to Spain.

In the consulted documentation, the "Golden Week" appears mainly as a concept in the Chinese tourism market, described as a key travel period rather than a detailed legal figure. The text of the Chinese National Holidays Law or an exhaustive legal definition is not found, so it is not possible to precisely explain, from the current legislation, how the golden week is formally structured. However, it can be seen how Spanish tourism actors organize around this window to capture Chinese outbound tourism, taking advantage that it concentrates a very relevant part of this country's outbound trips.

What is the Golden Week according to its use in the tourism sector

The newspaper Demócrata reports that Paradores has launched part of its digital strategy in China "taking advantage of the Golden Week, a crucial travel period in the country," when announcing the creation of its first official profile on the social network Xiaohongshu and other digital assets aimed at the Chinese public (Demócrata article). That piece does not detail dates or the Chinese legal regime, but it does outline Golden Week as:

• A concentrated period in which a large part of the population has several consecutive days off.
• A window that the tourism sector itself qualifies as a "crucial" period for travel in China, both domestic and abroad.
• An event sufficiently relevant for Spanish companies to adjust their campaigns and digital launches accordingly.

In summary, in international tourism practice, "Golden Week" functions as the label to designate those long holiday weeks set by the official Chinese calendar, without the sources handled detailing the specific articles of the norm that create or regulate them.

Regulatory framework: what is missing in the sources

Specific searches for the so-called Chinese National Holidays Law or the regulation "全国年节及纪念日放假办法" (rules on holidays and commemorative days) have not returned either the legal text or a legal analysis in Spanish within the consulted databases. Nor do these sources offer official summaries about:

• How many consecutive days of rest each Golden Week comprises according to Chinese law.
• How "pure" holidays combine with swapped working days (the "day adjustment" mechanism used by China).
• What limits or rights are recognized to workers to travel on those dates.

Therefore, there is insufficient information to make a rigorous comment "according to current legislation" of the People's Republic of China. What the Spanish sources do allow is to observe the practical effect of that legal framework on outbound tourism flows.

Impact on Chinese outbound tourism to Spain

Several documents from Turespaña and Spanish administrations show to what extent the Chinese calendar—including the Golden Week—conditions outbound tourism to Spain and, in general, to Europe:

• The Winter 2024/25 Trend Reports from Turespaña emphasize that the Chinese market maintains a volume around 97% of 2019, with a 25% increase in average spending up to 3,123 euros per traveler and 410 euros daily (Turespaña note).
• In 2024 Spain received 647,801 Chinese tourists, with a total spending of 1.828 billion euros and an average spending above 2,900 euros, according to Turespaña's participation in ITB China 2025 (ITB China 2025 report).
• In the first quarter of 2025, the Chinese market grew by 26.1% compared to the same period in 2019, "driven by excellent connectivity and the effect of the Chinese New Year" (same note), illustrating how major Chinese national holidays boost outbound travel demand.
• Already in 2026, Spain strengthens its presence at the ITB China fair in Shanghai, with 19 Spanish companies and entities and an offer focused on urban tourism, culture, gastronomy, and shopping, products especially attractive to Chinese travelers (ITB China 2026 participation).
• Another Turespaña note, presented at Fitur 2025, highlights that more than 70% of surveyed Chinese link their interest in traveling to culture and gastronomy, and many use online platforms to organize increasingly independent trips (studies on China and the USA).

All this shows that, although the Golden Week does not appear legally detailed in these sources, the result of that legal organization of holidays in China is an outbound market with:

• Highly concentrated demand peaks in certain weeks of the year, used for medium- and long-distance trips.
• A high average spending per traveler, making it especially interesting to capture trips in those windows.
• An increasing use of own digital channels (Xiaohongshu, WeChat, Chinese OTAs), to the point that chains like Paradores have launched a Chinese website and presence in local search engines to approach this audience (Paradores announcement).

Paradores' decision to coordinate the launch of its digital presence with the Golden Week, or Turespaña's continued commitment to fairs such as ITB China and other events in Shanghai and Beijing, demonstrate that the holiday calendar set by Chinese regulations—although not detailed in these sources—has a direct effect on when and how Chinese citizens travel abroad, and on how Spain designs its strategy to attract them.