In 2024, Madrid was the city with the most inhabitants in Spain. In that year, more than 3.42 million people lived in the city. Barcelona was the second-largest city with 1.69 million residents.

Spain ES: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data was reported at 17.171 % in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 17.008 % for 2016. Spain ES: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 15.595 % from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 17.171 % in 2017 and a record low of 14.326 % in 1960. Spain ES: Population in Largest City: as % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the percentage of a country's urban population living in that country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; Weighted average;

Madrid was the largest city in Spain in 2024, with around 3.4 million inhabitants. Barcelona followed second, with nearly 1.7 million people residing there. The most populated city in the Spanish islands that year was Palma de Mallorca.

Population in largest city in Spain was reported at 6783241 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Spain - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

ES: Population in Largest City data was reported at 6,403,902.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 6,312,017.000 Person for 2016. ES: Population in Largest City data is updated yearly, averaging 4,396,021.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,403,902.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 2,467,926.000 Person in 1960. ES: Population in Largest City data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population in largest city is the urban population living in the country's largest metropolitan area.; ; United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects.; ;

This dataset is about cities in Spain. It has 488 rows. It features 7 columns including country, population, latitude, and longitude.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Spain was reported at 16.99 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Spain - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

While Spain’s population has increased slightly since the year 2000, the share of the rural and urban populations has remained relatively constant, with Spain being a highly urban country. This consistently high urbanization is a consequence of both economic and social factors. The Spanish wealth is generated in the cities to a large extent Two thirds of Spain’s economic output, as divided across economic sectors, comes from the service sector, with only ***** percent originating from agriculture. Naturally, service-based economies are easiest when people live closely, while agricultural practices need more land, and thus a rural population. Of course, this also brings economic costs, such as the high living and housing costs in Madrid. What draws people into cities? Social factors also drive people to cities. For some, it is being closer to family or culture, such as art museums. For others, it is finding a large city with green spaces, like Madrid. For others, it is the opportunity to watch a game in a world-class soccer stadium, perhaps FC Barcelona. These and other factors continue to keep Spaniards in their cities.

In 1500, the largest city was Paris, with an estimated 225 thousand inhabitants, almost double the population of the second-largest city, Naples. As in 1330, Venice and Milan remain the third and fourth largest cities in Western Europe, however Genoa's population almost halved from 1330 until 1500, as it was struck heavily by the bubonic plague in the mid-1300s. In lists prior to this, the largest cities were generally in Spain and Italy, however, as time progressed, the largest populations could be found more often in Italy and France. The year 1500 is around the beginning of what we now consider modern history, a time that saw the birth of many European empires and inter-continental globalization.

Official population figures of the Spanish Municipalities: Revision of the Municipal Register: Population by Autonomous Community and Autonomous City and size of municipalities. Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities.

All cities with a population > 1000 or seats of adm div (ca 80.000)Sources and ContributionsSources : GeoNames is aggregating over hundred different data sources. Ambassadors : GeoNames Ambassadors help in many countries. Wiki : A wiki allows to view the data and quickly fix error and add missing places. Donations and Sponsoring : Costs for running GeoNames are covered by donations and sponsoring.Enrichment:add country name

Andalusia, with a total number of 8.6 million inhabitants, ranked first on the list of most populous autonomous communities in Spain as of January 1st, 2025. The least populated regions of Spain were the two autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, both with a population of under 90,000 inhabitants that year. The population of Spain has been increasing for many years after experiencing a downward trend between 2012 and 2015, and is projected to grow by nearly half a million by 2027. The population of Spain is dying more than being born Spain has one of the lowest fertility rate in the European Union, with barely 1.29 children per woman. According to the most recent data, more people died in Spain than were being born in 2023, with figures reaching over 434,000 deaths versus 320,000 newborns. Immigration countered this trend One of the key points to balance out this population downtrend in Spain is immigration. Spain’s immigration figures finally started to pick up in 2015 after a downward trend that presumably initiated after the 2008 financial crisis. Nevertheless, Spaniards still migrate is much larger numbers than before the crisis. According to the latest data, nationals aged between 25 and 34 years represented the largest bulk of emigrants.

Censo de Población: Population by gender, age (year to year) and nationality (Spanish/foreign) (province capitals and main cities). Annual. Municipalities.

Censo de Población: Population by year of arrival in Spain, year of arrival in the Autonomous Community, sex and age group. Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Madrid, Spain metro area from 1950 to 2025.

It is estimated that the cities of Cordova (modern-day Córdoba) and Palermo were the largest cities in Europe in 1050, and had between fifteen and twenty times the population of most other entries in this graph, Despite this the cities of Cordova (the capital city of the Umayyad caliphate, who controlled much of the Iberian peninsula from the seventh to eleventh centuries), and Palermo (another Arab-controlled capital in Southern Europe) were still the only cities in Western Europe with a population over one hundred thousand people, closely followed by Seville. It is also noteworthy to point out that the five largest cities on this list were importing trading cities, in modern day Spain or Italy, although the largest cities become more northern and western European in later lists (1200, 1330, 1500, 1650 and 1800). In 1050, todays largest Western European cities, London and Paris, had just twenty-five and twenty thousand inhabitants respectively.

The period of European history (and much of world history) between 500 and 1500 is today known as the 'Dark Ages'. Although the term 'Dark Ages' was originally applied to the lack of literature and arts, it has since been applied to the lack or scarcity of recorded information from this time. Because of these limitations, much information about this time is still being debated today.

This horizontal bar chart displays male population (people) by capital city using the aggregation sum in Spain. The data is about countries per year.

Continuous Register Statistics: Population (Spanish/foreigners) by age (year to year) and sex. Annual. Provinces.

This horizontal bar chart displays population (people) by capital city using the aggregation sum in Spain. The data is filtered where the date is 2023. The data is about countries per year.

Continuous Population Statistics: Resident population by date, sex, age group and nationality (Spanish/foreign). Quarterly. Autonomous Communities and Cities.