New Spanish population figures reveal that the number of foreigners moving to Spain rose significantly last year.
The latest data, compiled from the pardon, shows that Spain’s foreign-born population rose by 146,000 people last year. This takes the overall total number of foreigners living in the country to 4.72 million.
The region with the highest proportion of non-Spanish residents was the Balearic Islands, where 17.2 per cent of the population was born outside of the country. Catalunya has the second highest proportion of foreign-born residents (14.2 per cent), followed by Murcia (13.7 per cent).
Interestingly, the data also hints that Brexit hasn’t had the adverse impact on the British population in Spain that many had feared. The number of UK nationals registered as residents of Spain at the end of 2017 was 240,934. Although this was only 149 more people than at the end of 2016, many experts had predicted that Brexit would prompt a mass-Brit exodus from the country. These figures suggest this has not happened.
Another finding from the pardon shows that the average age of Brits living in Spain is higher than those from the next best represented country – Germany.
The average age of Spain’s British population is 53.5 – suggesting the vast majority of Brits who live in the country are retirees. The average age of German’s living in Spain is a few years lower, at 49.3.
Article published 26th April 2018