Brits planning summer holidays to Spain, France and Portugal this year issued travel warning

Brits have been warned that they could be paying more for their summer holiday if they’re flying out to numerous locations across Europe.

As you may have noticed, we’re currently in the midst of a cost of living crisis with the price of just about everything going up - from mortgage repayments to your weekly shop.

In fact, the price of food and drink rose by eight per cent year-on-year by the end of 2023 and let’s not get started on the hike in energy bills.

And, in some deeply unwelcome news, the price of holidays is the latest in a long line of things that have seen a steep price increase. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

The Mirror and price comparison site Hopper crunched the numbers to work out exactly how much more you’d be expected to stump up to fly to numerous places and it makes for pretty depressing reading.

Looking at prices for more than 200 airlines, to compare a 'good deal price' - what a holidaymaker should expect to pay - available at the end of January 2020 and the end of January 2024.

Pexels/Aleksandar Pasaric

Popular Spanish destinations were particularly hard hit, with return flights from the UK to Menorca shooting up a whopping 63 percent, from £178 in 2020 to £291 this year. Ouch.

Barcelona wasn’t far behind, with a 30 percent price increase bringing the cost of a trip up to £187 compared to £143 in 2020.

Malaga and Ibiza had similar increases of 28 percent and 17 per cent respectively - return flights to the party island would now set you back £213 compared to £182 in 2020.

Greece also saw increases in popular tourist spots, with Athens going from £182 for return flights to £223 and Mykonos shooting up to £340 from £278.

Pexels/Flo Dahm

Faro in Portugal has gone from £196 in 2020 to £250 in 2024, while Porto has increased 17 percent from £155 to £182.

Meanwhile, Izmir in Turkey has also gone up, from £216 to £244 and Bodrum has increased 12 per cent from £276 to £311.

But it’s not all bad news, honest - as the study also discovered several locations where the price had gone down.

Funchal in Portugal was down 20 percent from £259 in 2020 to £207, while the stunning city of Lisbon is also cheaper, with return flights now costing £165 compared to £170 four years ago.

Flights to the ever-popular destination of Tenerife in Spain have also come down from £339 to £296, while Lesbos and Souda in Greece have dropped 15 percent and 13 per cent respectively.