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It is difficult, both from a layman's point of view and from the perspective of work psychology and sociology, to provide a definition of the concept of work. Various factors contribute to this difficulty. The first problem lies in the use of employment and work as synonyms. Even though some authors have established distinct differences between these terms in the sense that employment implies remunerative work, thus excluding other types of work in which a contractual relationship of the definition of employment does not exist, the truth is that indiscriminate use is still a characteristic feature of the bibliography of work psychology and sociology (see Jahoda, 1987). In addition to this confusion, we have to confront the problems originating from the conceptual distinction between work in an abstract sense of the word and work considered as a category of subjective experience.

This study aims to appraise the historical evolution of tourism research focused on Spain. Firstly, an analysis was conducted to assess the production and impact of research within this domain. Secondly, scientific mapping, specifically through co-word analysis, was used to identify and explore the principal research themes and their evolution in the field.

A historical approach was adopted in this study, using 1,100 bibliographic records obtained from the Scopus database. Science mapping was then conducted through co-word analysis of bibliographic data.

The results of the performance analysis provide insights into the volume, evolution and impact of the scientific documents published within the research area under investigation. Moreover, by adopting a longitudinal approach, science mapping through co-word analysis enables the definition of the intellectual structure within this research domain. In this regard, the main research themes are identified, conceptually assessed, and their evolution is examined across three distinct window periods: an initial research period (1972–2002), a growing research period (2003–2012) and a consolidation period (2013–2022).

The study provides a state-of-the-art position on tourism research related to Spain thus guiding future studies in the area. Furthermore, this study provides a comprehensive “snapshot” of the historical progression of tourism research in Spain, capturing the emblematic aspects that have emerged within the area over the investigated time period.