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The Imserso tourist scheme is a Spanish government-subsidised holiday programme for pensioners and retirees, offering heavily discounted trips to coastal and rural destinations during the off-season. It’s back for the 2025-2026 autumn/winter season, and it’s proving just as popular as ever.

 

In the Region of Murcia, as well as in Andalucia, Aragon, Cantabria, Castille y León, Extremadura, Galicia, Madrid and Melilla, the travel scheme went on sale on October 8. Two days earlier, it launched in the rest of the autonomous regions: Asturias, Catalonia, Castilla-La Mancha, the Valencian Community, Ceuta, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, La Rioja, Navarra and the Basque Country.

 

This edition offers several new features compared to last year, including a reduced rate of €50, the option to bring your pets along and a €100 supplement for those booking more than one trip per season.

 

A total of 879,213 places have been offered this year, of which 440,284 are for mainland Spain coastal destinations, 228,142 for island beach hotspots and 210,787 for short-term vacations, with prices ranging from €124 to €564. Without a doubt, these low prices attract thousands of pensioners and are the reason why these trips are so popular, and naturally enough, the most attractive destinations sell out in record time.

 

But even if you weren’t quite quick enough off the mark to bag your first choice, there are still plenty of fabulous getaways up for grabs at bargain prices.

 

 

To find out which destinations have places available, you can access the Social Tourism website where dates, prices and availability are updated in real time. The first step is to obtain the Imserso accreditation, a document that arrives by mail and includes a four-digit personal code. With this information, you must then log onto the website again and go to the "Book your trip" section.

 

Once you've entered your DNI or NIE number, along with your personal password, you'll need to enter your ID number. When this step is complete, the system will display search options, allowing you to select criteria such as origin, destination, type of trip (with or without transportation), geographic area, date and duration.

 

After confirming the information, the page displays a calendar with available days marked in green, while dates with a waiting list appear in blue. If there are available spaces, you can click on the chosen day, review the hotel, room and price, and complete the online reservation. If there is no availability, you can also sign up for the waiting list to access a space in case of cancellation.

 

Sadly though, if the date appears in red, it means you’re out of luck and that the destination is fully booked.

 

 

Image: Turismo Social