IAB Spain and PwC forecast €6.597 billion to €6.801 billion in digital advertising spending in Spain for 2026. The second wave, published Oct. 1, combines consolidated first-half figures with a full-year projection. Expected expansion helps identify buying environments worth investigating without calculating returns on each advertiser’s still-unapproved budget.
The range represents projected growth of 6.2% to 9.5% over 2025. Its endpoints are a dated estimate rather than a disclosed statistical confidence interval. A larger annual market can coexist with a company maintaining its investment: aggregate spending and the contribution of the next customer answer different questions.
Channel size and growth speed tell different stories
Consolidated investment across three channels
Spain, first half of 2026.
EUR million
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Consolidated first-half 2026 amounts reported by IAB Spain and PwC. Three selected channels, not total market spending. Not divided by full-year forecasts or 2025 annual amounts to manufacture channel shares or half-year growth.
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| Category | Investment |
|---|---|
| Search | 1,208.0 EUR million |
| Social networks | 1,050.4 EUR million |
| Connected TV | 118.9 EUR million |
Search and social media substantially exceed connected television in reported half-year amounts. At the same time, the release reports first-half CTV growth of 53.6%. Rapid expansion from a smaller base identifies momentum without making the category the largest or most profitable for every product. Advertisers need to understand which audience and commercial task they can serve in each environment.
The half-year amount is not divided by a full-year forecast to manufacture market share. Nor is it compared with a complete year as though their time coverage were identical. Planning retains period, scope and version for each figure even where categories share a name.
The 2025 allocation supplies a scale reference
Statista’s series, based on IAB Spain and PwC’s 2025 results report, records Search at €1,992.6 million and social media at €1,832.5 million. The chart shows estimated full-year spending by format. It describes market allocation under the report’s definitions without recommending that an individual company copy it.
2025: Search and social media account for the largest amounts
The three largest estimated digital advertising spending formats in Spain, full-year 2025.
EUR million
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2025 market estimate: a 78-company panel with half-yearly tracking plus PwC econometric estimation of uncontrolled spending, market sources and interviews. Nominal euros. Display excludes social media and branded content; YouTube is video within Display. Not individual advertiser budgets or a 2026 forecast.
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| Category | Estimated spending |
|---|---|
| Search | 1,992.6 EUR million |
| Social media | 1,832.5 EUR million |
| Display | 1,225.9 EUR million |
Classification matters when preparing the offer. YouTube video sits within Display here rather than social media. CTV, audio and influencer marketing retain separate categories. Moving a figure into a presentation using another definition can duplicate spending or change a channel’s apparent weight despite correctly copying each value.
Opening an environment also requires production. A social demonstration, a search response and a connected-television asset perform different tasks. Preparing material, adapting the destination and handling responses belong to the cost of obtaining a useful result. The media invoice does not itself account for that effort.
The next budget needs a recognizable commercial operation
The decision begins with its intended result: a sales-accepted enquiry, completed operation or recurring relationship under the company’s conditions. Creative and destination retain the same promise. An awareness campaign can perform another legitimate task, but a favourable traffic-campaign click cost does not replace its evaluation.
Nielsen records another obstacle: in its global 2025 survey, 22% of 1,400 brand professionals identified alignment on metrics as their first or second challenge in measuring digital return; 19% selected incomparable data. Eligibility required marketing budgets of at least one million dollars, separate from the Spanish spending panel. The comparison identifies definition difficulties rather than estimating failures among smaller businesses.
Return measurement requires agreement and comparable data
Brand marketers at manager level or above, minimum annual marketing budget USD 1 million. Online survey February 25–March 6, 2025.
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
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Nielsen / Statista. N 1,400: 350 per region APAC, EMEA, North America and Latin America. Online survey February 25–March 6, 2025; manager level or higher, minimum annual budget USD 1 million. Original p. 22 and 29 confirms question, values and filters. IAB UK hosts the report. Does not measure ROI or represent smaller budgets.
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| Category | First or second obstacle |
|---|---|
| Alignment on metrics | 22.0% |
| Incomparable data | 19.0% |
| Unclear important indicators | 19.0% |
Google Analytics defines attribution as allocating credit among contacts preceding an action. That helps interpret an observed journey without establishing how many purchases would disappear without advertising. Several platforms can claim the same operation. Review retains a reconciled commercial total alongside each tool’s credit-allocation rules.
Expansion is assessed with its own cost and maturity
Attributed revenue still requires discounts, fulfilment, returns and support where relevant. A recent enquiry and consolidated sale have not had equal time to close. Complete cost and outcome maturity accompany comparison so an attractive initial signal does not fund repeated expansion before contribution is known.
The 2025 report details its panel and estimation approach; the second-wave release does not provide the projection’s full methodology here. The 2025 panel size is not automatically transferred to the 2026 forecast. That boundary permits using confirmed evidence without filling unknowns.
The national forecast helps formulate an opportunity. Approving the next tranche requires explaining the useful continuation it adds, the work it needs and the evidence for retaining or removing it. A company can increase, maintain or reduce while the market grows. Its economic choice depends on the relationship it can serve and finance rather than matching the headline’s percentage.
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Marian Vasile
Marian Vasile is a MarTech and growth professional. His work spans product marketing, SEO, paid advertising and deep online tracking, including behavioral analytics and attribution.