Spain set for 10% foreign resident population

The latest figures from the Spain’s National Institute of Statistics show that 3,880,000 of the country’s official population of 44,390,000 million are foreigners. This is 8.7% of Spain's population.

This is a staggering leap from only 2.2% at the beginning of the decade.

While no firm data exists to show how this immigrant population is divided according to countries of origin, it is clear that Britons make up a high proportion of the foreigners now residing in Spain and have been responsible for a significant portion of the growth in the total.

Within the automomous regions the Baleares is the place where the largest numbers of foreigners live making up 15.6% of this region's official population.

Valencia, Murcia, Cataluña and Madrid follow. The regions with the smallest numbers of foreigners are Extremadura, Galicia y Asturias with only 2.5% of their official population made up of foreigner residents.

According to a recent report by consultants Analistas Financieros Internacionales foreigners will buy around 170,000 new homes in Spain this year – by far the highest number of foreign purchases in any European country and a significant upward pressure on property values across the country.