Census: Spain's population up 15% in the past 10 years, reaches 47 Mio.

[Tender Branson]

01.11.2011 Censo: 46.815.916
01.11.2001 Censo: 40.847.371

Increase: 14.6% or 5.968.545 people

Spanish citizens increased from 39.275.358 to 41.563.443, or by 5.8%

Foreigners increased from 1.572.013 to 5.252.473, or by 234.1%

The Illes Baleares had the biggest increase with 31%, while Asturias had the lowest with 1%.

Guadalajara was the province with the biggest increase at 47%, while Zamora lost 4%.

Madrid gained 260.000 people, Barcelona 107.000

Especially it can be said that the coastal regions are growing rapidely, and also the Madrid area.

http://www.ine.es/prensa/np756.pdf

[Velasco]

The new census has a lot of interesting data. Thanks for posting.

Of course the increase of the foreign population is related to the economic growth from the 90's until the end of 2007. Probably the next census will show a very different trend. The population growth was almost entirely owed to the immigrants who entered during the economic boom and the real-estate bubble. The vegetative growth among the autoctonous population remained very low. One might think that the detention of the migratory flow together with an even more depressed birthrate, both owed to the crisis, will drive to a stagnation of the Spain's population for the period 2011-2021, with an increasingly aged population. There are signs that we might turn again into a country of emigrants again due to the depression and the lack of expectations, with an aggravating factor: the population who is going out is the youngest and prepared.

There are quite impressive increases of Bolivians (+1523%) or Romanians (+1287%), among other nationalities. The greatest contingents of foreign population are Romanians (798000), Moroccans (774000), Equatorian (317000), British (313000),  Colombian (250000), Bolivian (183000), Italians (177000),  Chinese (171000), Germans (153000), etc.

As for the regions, it's symptomatic that Castilla- La Mancha (19,6%) had a major increase than Madrid (18.4%), concentrated in the provinces of Guadalajara (47.1%) and Toledo (30,3%). The high prices of housing in Madrid with a high probability have caused the growth of the neighboring provinces.

By municipalities it's interesting to see some places. In Cuarte de Huerva, near to Zaragoza, population grew 431%; in Egüés (Navarre), in the Pamplona's periphery, the increase was 407%. In Seseña (Toledo), which is a very symbolic place for the real-estate bubble in Spain, the growth was 252%. The other municipalities with high growth rates are in the periphery of greater cities such as Madrid or in touristic coastal areas. The municipalities which lost more population in relative terms are in many cases in depressed areas in the north of Spain with a mining or industrial past. Examples: Villablino in León (-17.8%), Aller, San Martín del Rey Aurelio and Mieres in Asturias; Sestao, Portugalete and Basauri in Bizkaia; Ferrol and As Pontes in A Coruña...

[ottermax]

Never realized there was such a dramatic increase of immigrants in Spain. Has there been increasing xenophobia in response?

Are the increases really this large or were people not counted properly in 2001? Only 930 Paraguayans lived in Spain in 2001?

[Velasco]

Never realized there was such a dramatic increase of immigrants in Spain. Has there been increasing xenophobia in response?

Are the increases really this large or were people not counted properly in 2001? Only 930 Paraguayans lived in Spain in 2001?

There have been occasional outbreaks of xenophobia in places as El Ejido (Almería), a population in the south of Spain that grew very much thanks to the greenhouse crops, which production is exported to the rest of Europe. The agricultural workforce comes fundamentally from Morocco and lives in settlements during the harvest season. A local population prospered with enough rapidity; also big brothels with Russian girls exist in the town, by the way.

Nevertheless, I do not believe that a general ill-will exists towards the foreigners, but it's rather focused in some concrete places. In addition, for historical reasons, in some places distrust exists towards the Muslims.

As for political expressions of xenophobia, there's the PXC's relative success in certain Catalan municipalities depressed by the crisis and with a foreigners' great proportion, specially of Islamic religion. But there aren't political options representing to the islamophobic far right  nationwide. *PxC means Platform for Catalonia.

As for the reliability of the census, there exists a quota of illegal immigrants. A few years ago Zapatero (PSOE, socialdemocrat) legalized almost a million and the conservative PP, then in the opposition, put the shout in the sky. Probably the regularization has helped to increase the figures of the census though Paraguay in particular is not the country that sends more emigrants to Spain.

[opebo]

El Ejido (Almería), a population in the south of Spain that grew very much... also big brothels with Russian girls exist in the town, by the way.

Spain is such a wonderful country.  I do so wish I had visited it when I lived in Europe - wasted my time in Switzerland.

[Velasco]

Spain is a nice country, but El Ejido is a horrible place. I suspect that you feel more attraction for the Russian girls in the brothels; El Ejido's new rich men also do.