As recorded by the source, Moroccans ranked as the foreign nationality with more residents in Spain in 2023, closely followed by Romanians. After years of losing its foreign population, Spain’s immigration figures started to pick up in 2015, with the number of people that moved to the Mediterranean country surpassing the number of foreigners that decided to leave.

A matter of balance The net migration rate of Spain changed its course mainly due to the great inflow of foreigners that move to reside in the Mediterranean country. Spain’s immigration flow slowed down after the 2008 financial crisis, albeit the number of foreigners that opted to change their residence saw a significant growth in the last years. In 2022, Colombians ranked first as the foreign nationality that most relocated to Spain, distantly followed by Moroccans and Ukranians.

Spain does not have the highest number of immigrants in Europe In recent years, the European Union confronted a rising number of refugees arriving from the Middle East. Migration figures show that Germany accommodated approximately 15 million foreign-born citizens, ranking it as the country that most hosted immigrants in Europe in 2022. By comparison, Spain’s foreign population stood slightly over seven million, positioning the Western Mediterranean country third on the European list of foreign-born population. Unfortunately, thousands of persons have died ore gone missing trying to reach Spanish territory, as more and more irregular migrants opt to use dangerous maritime routes to arrive at Southern Europe from Africa's coasts.

As of July 2024, out of the 48.80 million residents of Spain, approximately 6.6 million individuals were foreign residents. Spanish-born residents accounted for 42 million in 2024, a figure that has been declining since 2020, in contrast to the foreign-born population, which has been gradually increasing.

In 2023, California had the highest Hispanic population in the United States, with over 15.76 million people claiming Hispanic heritage. Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois rounded out the top five states for Hispanic residents in that year. History of Hispanic people Hispanic people are those whose heritage stems from a former Spanish colony. The Spanish Empire colonized most of Central and Latin America in the 15th century, which began when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1492. The Spanish Empire expanded its territory throughout Central America and South America, but the colonization of the United States did not include the Northeastern part of the United States. Despite the number of Hispanic people living in the United States having increased, the median income of Hispanic households has fluctuated slightly since 1990. Hispanic population in the United States Hispanic people are the second-largest ethnic group in the United States, making Spanish the second most common language spoken in the country. In 2021, about one-fifth of Hispanic households in the United States made between 50,000 to 74,999 U.S. dollars. The unemployment rate of Hispanic Americans has fluctuated significantly since 1990, but has been on the decline since 2010, with the exception of 2020 and 2021, due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Most residents of Catalonia considered themselves equally Catalan and Spanish. This is the result of a survey conducted in March and May 2024 which revealed that approximately 34 percent of the population in this northern region identified Catalan and Spanish to the same degree. The share of the population that identified as more Catalan than Spanish or only Catalan, however, was also significant, with shares of 21.6 percent and 18.7 percent, respectively. Catalonia in SpainThe Catalan participation in the Spanish GDP was estimated at 20 percent in 2023. This figure maintained steadily over the last few years, with an average share of about 20 percent of the total GDP of the country. The average GDP per capita in Catalonia was significantly higher than that of the rest of Spain at 34,534 euros in 2022. During the same period, Spain’s average GDP per capita was 28.276 euros. As of 2024, Catalonia was the second most populous autonomous community in Spain with about eight million people. The Catalan language: a symbol of the region’s identityThe Catalan and Spanish languages coexist in the coastal region of Catalonia, both enjoying official and equal status. As of 2024, about 47 percent of the population of Catalonia considered Spanish their mother tongue, whereas about 40 percent reported being native speakers of Catalan. Despite the fact that the vast majority of books in Spain are published in Spanish, the Catalan language ranked second in the country’s editorial scene at about nine percent of book publications, revealing the weight of this language among other languages spoken in Spain. In fact, Catalan was one of the most translated languages in this country according to the latest studies.

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