Immigration to Spain

Immigration to Spain, which had been very low for much of the country's history, increased sharply in the early 21st century. For example, in 1998, immigrants made up just 1.6% of the population, but by 2009, that figure had exceeded 12%. Following a decline during the economic crisis, immigration began to rise again after 2015, with a marked acceleration after 2021, with the foreign-born population now reaching 20.3% of the total population as of January 2026.

As of 1 January 2026, the most recent date for which data are available by specific countries and regions, the foreign-born population in Spain represented 20.3% of the total population. Of these, 4.92% were born in other European countries, while the remaining 14.34% originated from outside Europe. The largest share of the non-European population came from South America, accounting for 7.61% of the total population, followed by those from Africa (3.35%), Central America and the Caribbean (1.75%), Asia (1.25%), North America (0.35%), and Oceania (0.02%). Among them, 7,243,561 individuals (14.6% of the total population) did not hold Spanish citizenship. This places Spain as the 4th country in Europe in terms of immigrant population and the 7th worldwide.

During the early 21st century, the average year-on-year demographic growth set a new record with its 2003 peak variation of 2.1%, doubling the previous record reached in the 1960s when a mean year-on-year growth of 1% was experienced. In 2005 alone, the immigrant population of Spain increased by 700,000 people.

Spain accepted 478,990 new immigrant residents in just the first six months of 2022 alone. During these months, 220,443 people also emigrated from Spain, leaving a record-breaking net migration figure of 258,547. More women than men chose to move to Spain during 2022; this is due to higher rates of emigration from Latin America.

Population data

As of 1 January 2026, the most recent data results show 10,004,581 or 20.3% of the total population were foreign-born.

Previous data from the United Nations, there were 5,947,106 immigrants in Spain in early 2018, 12.8% of the population of Spain. According to the Spanish government, there were 5.6 million foreign residents in Spain in 2010; independent estimates put the figure 14% of total population (Red Cross, World Disasters Report 2006). According to the official 2011 census data, almost 800,000 were Romanian, 774,000 were Moroccan, 317,000 were Ecuadorian, 312,000 were British and 250,000 were Colombian . Other important foreign communities are Bolivian (4.1%), German (3.4%), Italian (3.1%), Bulgarian (2.9%), Chinese (2.6%) and Argentine (2.5%). In 2005, a regularization programme increased the legal immigrant population by 700,000 people. Since 2000, Spain has experienced high population growth as a result of immigration flows, despite a birth rate that is only half of the replacement level.

According to Eurostat, in 2010, there were 6.4 million foreign-born residents in Spain, corresponding to 14.0% of the total population. Of these, 4.1 million (8.9%) were born outside the EU and 2.3 million (5.1%) were born in another EU Member State.

As of 2005 Spain had the second highest immigration rates within the EU, just after Cyprus, and the second highest absolute net migration in the World (after the USA).

Over 920,000 immigrants arrived in Spain during 2007, in addition to 802,971 in 2006, 682,711 in 2005, and 645,844 in 2004.

For nationalities outside of this category,[clarification needed] in order to stay in Spain for more than 3 months, a residence card, residence visa or work permit is required.

Two distinct groups can be identified: those immigrants (mostly of working age) originating from countries mostly located in Eastern Europe, South America or Africa, with lower purchasing power than Spain, comprising most of the immigrating population, and those (of whom many are retired) originating from northern European or other Western countries with a higher GDP per capita than Spain.

Immigrants from Europe

Immigrants from Europe make up a growing proportion of immigrants in Spain. The main countries of origin are Romania, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria.

The British authorities estimate that the real population of British citizens living in Spain is much bigger than Spanish official figures suggest, establishing them at about 1,000,000, about 800,000 being permanent residents. Of these, according to the BBC and contrary to popular belief, only about 21.5% are over the age of 65.

In fact, according to the Financial Times, Spain is the most favoured destination for West Europeans considering to move from their own country elsewhere in the EU.

Social attitudes to immigration

Unlike other countries in the EU, Spain has not recorded any relevant anti-immigration about until fairly recently. According to some analysts, the causes behind this are multiple. Drawing from the experience of many Spaniards during the 1960s and then again in the beginning of the 21st century when the crisis struck the country, there may be also a collective understanding that hardships force people to seek work abroad.

A January 2004 survey by Spanish newspaper El País showed that the "majority" of Spaniards believe immigration was too high. Small parties, such as Movimiento Social Español, openly campaign using nationalist or anti-immigrant rhetoric as do other small far-right parties such as National Democracy (Spain) and España 2000. These parties have never won national or regional parliamentary seats. However, while the far-right political party Vox has gained headlines for favouring tough stance against immigration, commentators have suggested that this has not translated into electoral success for them.

According to an October 2024 survey for the El País newspaper and Cadena SER radio station, 57% of Spaniards believe there is "too much" immigration to Spain.

Immigration by country of origin

Recent trends

Major immigration

This chart shows the numbers of foreign nationals in Spain after 2000. European Union member states are indicated with the EU flag in regional European sub-divisions. The number of Latin American foreign nationals, without Spanish citizenship, decreased massively after 2009 mostly due to the naturalization of hundreds of thousands of these citizens who became eligible for naturalisation and therefore do not count as immigrants anymore on the official statistics. Due to the emergence of a new wave of immigrants in Spain, the number of foreign residents from Latin America, Morocco and other countries has grew substantially, though in the 2020s, the number of naturalisations in Spain has also risen again as many foreign nationals who arrived after 2017 are being naturalised.

See the next chart below, which shows the number of naturalizations in 2022–2025 for further information.

Irregular migration

The concept of an "irregular", "undocumented", or "illegal" migrant did not become meaningful in Spain's social imagination until the passing of the Ley de Extranjería in 1985, a year before Spain's entry into the European Communities.

Even though the main paths for the entry of clandestine migration have traditionally been airports and land borders, the sea route has proven to have a "profound impact at the social level" owing to qualitative, rather than quantitative, reasons.

Regarding the governance of the migration of Sub-Saharan people from Morocco (and Western Sahara) into Spain (which include crossings into the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, as well as a sea route to the Canary Islands), the Moroccan and Spanish authorities follow necropolitical forms of border control which are complemented with the favouring of the idea of "advancing borders" by reaching deals with origin or transit countries such as Guinea Conakry, Mali, Ivory Coast, and Gambia.

During the Premierships of People's Party José María Aznar and Socialist Party José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain gave residency to more than 1 million undocumented migrants in different amnesties in 1996, 2000, 2001 and 2005.

On 9 October 2024, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged the European Parliament to speed up the implementation of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum to alleviate the migration crisis in the Canary Islands, which had seen the illegal arrival of a record number of 46,843 migrants, mostly from Senegal, Mali and Morocco (up from 39,910 in 2023). Sánchez tried to push through a law that would introduce mandatory distribution of migrants among Spanish regions in order to alleviate pressure in the Canary Islands.

The Sánchez government planned to legalize around 900,000 undocumented migrants by 2027.

On July 2026, almost 1.2 million of Spain's undocumented migrants applied for legal status.

Along with Melilla, Ceuta's position on the Maghreb's Mediterranean coast attracts migrants who attempt entry into Spain, utilising several methods to cross the border (including breaching the exclave's perimeter or using the sea to skirt around it). Notable large-scale breaches occurred in 2021 (approximately 8,000 people), and 2026 (approximately 80,000 people).

Naturalizations

From 2005 to 2024 alone, roughly 2.7 million foreigners were granted Spanish citizenship through naturalization.

Since the end of the 20th century the number of foreigners who have obtained Spanish nationality has grown steadily, as Spain has been the EU country with the biggest number of approved naturalizations since 2010 until 2015. One out of four naturalizations made in the European Union in 2014 were belonging to Spain. Most of these naturalizations went to citizens coming from Latin America (which explains the massive decrease of these citizens counting as immigrants in Spain) mainly from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, although Morocco was amongst the top three as well. After four years being the first, Spain dropped to the third position in 2015 due to the stricter laws to naturalize citizens. Still, 114,351 foreigners became Spanish citizens in 2015, the majority being Latin Americans.

Naturalisations by country

The following table shows the number of naturalisations of Spanish residents by country of citizenship (among countries with more than 1,000 naturalisations of their citizens as Spaniards) from 2022 to 2025.

People from Latin American countries, Portugal, Philippines, Andorra and Equatorial Guinea can be naturalised as Spanish citizens after two years of permanent residence, as per the Spanish nationality law, while for most other foreign-born residents, it is ten years. That explains the higher rates of naturalisation per capita among the Latin American communities in Spain, in comparison with the Moroccan or the Romanian one.

Immigration detention

There are nine detention centers in Spain, known as CIEs (Centro de Internamiento de Extranjeros), run by the Ministry of the Interior, which can be found in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Algeciras, Tarifa, Malaga, and in the islands of Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, and Tenerife.

Expulsion paperwork can be initiated when a foreign person is in one of the following situations:

1. Lacking documentation in Spanish territory.
2. Working without a work permit, even if they have a valid resident permit.
3. Be involved in activities that violate public order or interior or exterior state security or any activity contrary to Spanish interests or that could put in danger Spain's relations with other countries.
4. Be convicted inside or outside of Spain of a crime punishable by incarceration for greater than one year.
5. Hiding or falsifying their situation from the Ministry of the Interior.
6. Lacking a legal livelihood or taking part in illegal activity.

Various civil organizations (e.g. APDHA, SOS Racismo, and Andalucía Acoge) have appealed to the Supreme Court of Spain, declaring the regulations behind the CIEs null and void for violating several human rights.

Crime rates

A 2008 study finds that the rates of crimes committed by immigrants are substantially higher than nationals. The study finds that "the arrival of immigrants has resulted in a lack of progress in the reduction of offences against property and in a minor increase in the number of offences against Collective Security (i.e. drugs and trafficking). In the case of nationals, their contribution to the increase in the crime rate is primarily concentrated in offences against persons." By controlling for socioeconomic and demographic factors, the gap between immigrants and natives is reduced but not fully. The authors also find "that a higher proportions of American, non-UE European, and African immigrants tend to widen the crime differential, the effect being larger for the latter ones". The same paper provides supports for the notion that labour market conditions impact the relationship between crime and immigration. Cultural differences were also statistically detected. This study has been criticized for not using strong instruments for identifying causality: the "instruments (lagged values of the covariates and measures of the service share of GDP in a province) are not convincing in dealing with the endogeneity of migrant location choice." Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) published a study that analyzes records in the Register of Convicted in 2008. The data show that immigrants are overrepresented in the crime statistics: 70% of all crimes were committed by Spaniards and 30% by foreigners. Foreigners make up 15% of the population.

See also

• Opposition to immigration
• Remigration
• Demographics of Spain
• Immigration to Europe
• Spanish nationality law
• List of countries by immigrant population
• List of sovereign states and dependent territories by fertility rate

External links

• 19 December 2016 at theWayback Machine