More than 5.8 million foreigners currently live in Spain, making up approximately 12.5% of the country’s total population. This is an all-time high and represents more than 12.52% of Spain’s total population, which currently stands at approximately 48.69 million people.
Although these foreigners live throughout the country, the concentration of foreigners is greater in some municipalities for various reasons. In ten Spanish municipalities, more than 60% of the population is a foreigner. At first you would think that these kinds of numbers apply to places like Benidorm or Torremolinos, but many of those ten places where 6 in 10 residents have a different nationality will seem relatively unknown to most readers.
Highest percentages of foreigners
According to data collected by the Consejo General de Economistas, Torre del Burgo (Guadalajara) is the municipality with the highest percentage of foreigners: no less than 89% of the 502 inhabitants. Almost 92% of this comes from Bulgaria. In second place is Fuente el Olmo de Fuentidueña (Segovia), where 77% of the 281 inhabitants are foreigners. Here the majority of foreigners are Romanians.
With a larger population, Rojales (Alicante) follows in third place, where 69% of the 17,389 inhabitants come from abroad (mainly British). Other municipalities with high percentages are Arboleas (Almería) with 68% (4,450 inhabitants), San Fulgencio (Alicante) with 67% (9,680 inhabitants), and Partaloa (Almería) with 64% (936 inhabitants). Also in Llíber (Alicante), Benahavís (Málaga), Benitachell (Alicante) and Daya Vieja (Alicante) more than 60% of the population is foreign, with percentages of 64%, 63%, 62% and 61% respectively.
In fact, of those ten municipalities, only Rojales, San Fulgencio, Daya Vieja, Llíber, Benahavís and Benitachell are in tourist areas.
Municipalities with more than 50% foreigners
In addition to the municipalities mentioned above, there are twelve other places where more than 50% of the population is foreign. These municipalities include Algorfa (Alicante), Bédar (Almería), Alcalalí (Alicante), Teulada (Alicante), San Miguel de Salinas (Alicante), Heras de Ayuso (Guadalajara), Hondón de los Frailes (Alicante), Guissona ( Lleida), Murla (Alicante), Calpe (Alicante), Benijófar (Alicante) and Alfaz del Pi (Alicante).
Autonomous communities with the most foreign residents
According to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), Catalonia is the autonomous community with the highest number of foreign residents, almost two million. In relation to the total population, the Balearic Islands (28%) have the highest percentage of foreigners, slightly above Catalonia’s 25%.
Growth of the foreign population
The growth of the foreign population in Spain has increased in recent years, while the number of Spanish-born residents is decreasing. Spain is growing by half a million people every year, thanks to the influx of foreigners. The number of Spanish-born residents fell by an average of 200 per day last year, while the number of foreigners increased by almost 1,500 daily. This resulted in a loss of 70,000 Spanish residents and an increase of 530,000 foreigners in one year.
In total, Spain now has 8.91 million foreign-born residents, an all-time high according to the INE. This group represents more than 18% of the total population of Spain, which currently has 48.69 million inhabitants. If current trends continue, one in five Spanish residents will soon be born abroad.
Spain in European perspective
In a European context, Spain is one of the countries with a relatively high percentage of immigrants. In 2023, the percentage of foreigners across the European Union was 13.3%, while in Spain it was 17.1%, according to the Fundación de las Cajas de Ahorros (Funcas).