Tiago Bianchi
Research expert covering internet & gaming in Latin America and Spain
With around 34.81 million users in Spain, Facebook remains the absolute leader of the Spanish social media market, with a user base that is expected to stabilize at around 35 million users in the upcoming years. But with little space to grow in terms of audience reach, its long-standing dominance starts feeling fatiguing and outdated among local users, especially as its usage decreases among younger generations. Facebook’s popularity crisis in its seventh-largest market in Europe is resolved by its marketplace and online shopping features.
Meanwhile, Facebook still is among the most downloaded social networking apps, even against considering trending newcomers like BeReal or TikTok. By the second quarter of 2023, the Facebook app was downloaded around 594 thousand times, generating revenues of more than 79.37 thousand U.S. dollars. Nonetheless, Facebook figures among Spain’s most visited websites, thus being the main generator of web traffic referrals among social platforms in the Mediterranean country.
However, the lack of enthusiasm for Facebook already reflects on its engagement among Spanish users, as the platform already is already losing its position for news consumption and influencer audiences. When compared to TikTok, its main contender in Spanish soil, Facebook has a much shorter daily usage time, despite ByteDance’s video-based platform still not managing to overcome any of Meta’s offerings in terms of usage or reach.
With around 47 percent Spanish online shoppers buying at online marketplaces at least once per month, Facebook’s utter dominance in social media quickly spread into the country’s e-commerce sector and turned it into the most used social media for commercial purposes and by marketplace shoppers. As of 2022, Facebook’s social commerce revenues in Spain ranked only behind YouTube’s, generating around 258.3 million U.S. dollars.
How strong is Facebook in Spain?
By 2023, Facebook reached around 72.5 percent of Spain’s online population, being the biggest pillar of Meta’s dominance above all other social platforms in the country. In fact, Facebook only runs behind its own Meta product siblings, commonly ranking among the favorite networks among social media users in Spain, second to WhatsApp in terms of user awareness and monthly active users, and third when including Instagram in terms of usage reach.Meanwhile, Facebook still is among the most downloaded social networking apps, even against considering trending newcomers like BeReal or TikTok. By the second quarter of 2023, the Facebook app was downloaded around 594 thousand times, generating revenues of more than 79.37 thousand U.S. dollars. Nonetheless, Facebook figures among Spain’s most visited websites, thus being the main generator of web traffic referrals among social platforms in the Mediterranean country.
What are Facebook’s current challenges in Spain?
Facebook’s strong and long-standing reign in Spain might start feeling repetitive for its local users, especially among younger groups. While three out of four Millennials in the country are users of the platform, this share is reduced to almost a fifth of Generation Alpha users in 2023. Despite appearing among the country’s favorite platforms, Facebook’s user satisfaction rate in Spain drops under the national average among other social platforms, while its downloads also tend to slow significantly over the next years.How do Spaniards use Facebook?
With a relatively well-balanced audience in terms of gender and age, most Facebook users in Spain are concentrated in big populational centers, especially the capitals of Madrid and Barcelona. More than half of its local users access the platform daily, with a usage time of little less than an hour. In comparison to other Meta platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp are used for around 68 and 86 minutes each.However, the lack of enthusiasm for Facebook already reflects on its engagement among Spanish users, as the platform already is already losing its position for news consumption and influencer audiences. When compared to TikTok, its main contender in Spanish soil, Facebook has a much shorter daily usage time, despite ByteDance’s video-based platform still not managing to overcome any of Meta’s offerings in terms of usage or reach.
F-commerce in Spain
Given the current challenges, Facebook’s multitude of functions still proved valuable in the Spanish digital market. The country features an online shopping sector of around 33.82 million users, the fifth largest in Europe and almost as big as the one of Italy, with consumers eager for convenience, offers, and price advantages.With around 47 percent Spanish online shoppers buying at online marketplaces at least once per month, Facebook’s utter dominance in social media quickly spread into the country’s e-commerce sector and turned it into the most used social media for commercial purposes and by marketplace shoppers. As of 2022, Facebook’s social commerce revenues in Spain ranked only behind YouTube’s, generating around 258.3 million U.S. dollars.
