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.
+ Foreign nationalityFuente: para los años 1981, 1986 y 1991, los datos se refieren tan sólo a extranjeros con permiso de residencia a 31 de diciembre y proceden del Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales, citado en (tomando, para el porcentaje de 1986, la población española de hecho según la estimación intercensal del INE para el 1 de julio ). Para los datos de 1996 y posteriores, todos los datos proceden del INE Year Population % 1981 198,042 0.52 1986 241,971 0.63 1991 360,655 0.91 1996 542,314 1.37 1998 637,085 1.60 1999 748,954 1.86 2000 923,879 2.28 2001 1,370,657 3.33 2002 1,977,946 4.73 2003 2,664,168 6.24 2004 3,034,326 7.02 2005 3,730,610 8.46 2006 4,144,166 9.27 2007 4,519,554 9.9 2008 5,268,762 11.4 2009 5,648,671 12.1 2010 5,747,734 12.2 2011 5,751,487 12.2 2012 5,736,258 12.1 2013 5,546,238 11.8 2014 5,023,487 10.7 2015 4,729,644 10.1 2016 4,618,581 9.9 2017 4,572,807 9.8 2018 4,663,726 10.0 2019 5,023,279 10.7 2020 5,434,153 11.5 2021 5,440,148 11.5 2022 5,542,932 11.7 2023 6,089,620 12.7 2024 6,735,487 13.8 2025 7,132,324 14.4 2026 (January) 7,243,561 14.8
+ Foreign-born nationals Year Population % 2002 2,334,098 5.7 2003 2,984,094 7.1 2004 3,547,669 8.3 2005 4,107,226 9.5 2006 4,637,971 10.5 2007 5,200,061 11.6 2008 5,878,919 12.9 2009 6,225,513 13.5 2010 6,280,064 13.5 2011 6,282,208 13.5 2012 6,294,952 13.5 2013 6,165,635 13.2 2014 5,952,770 12.8 2015 5,883,891 12.7 2016 5,913,165 12.7 2017 6,014,708 12.9 2018 6,207,509 13.3 2019 6,549,309 14.0 2020 7,014,753 14.8 2021 7,254,797 15.3 2022 7,468,116 15.7 2023 8,204,206 17.3 2024 8,838,234 18.2 2025ine.es: Estadística Continua de Población (ECP). 1 de octubre de 2025. Datos provisionales 9,825,266 19.9 2026 10,004,581 20.3
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.6.5% of the EU population are foreigners and 9.4% are born abroad , Eurostat, Katya VASILEVA, 34/2011.
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).Eurostat – Population in Europe in 2005 . (PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-11-14.
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, 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.Special Reports | Brits Abroad . BBC News. Retrieved on 2011-11-14.
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.News.bg – Europeans Favour Spain for Expat Jobs . International.ibox.bg. Retrieved on 2011-11-14.
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
+ Population by country of birth(as of 1 January 2025)CountryPopulation 1,165,955 978,041 692,316 521,181 468,751 450,883 430,277 281,584 252,290 220,593 219,791 209,592 209,320 207,135 193,275 189,712 180,264 164,380 162,633 141,438 135,696 109,523 103,935 101,578 96,773 93,905 91,437 87,575 82,165 76,180 73,951 62,007 60,756 60,164 56,924 56,656
Recent trends + Countries with at least 10,000 people, immigrating each year.Immigration flow from abroad by year, sex and age Country 2022 2023 2024 Colombia Morocco Venezuela Peru Argentina Cuba Romania Ecuador Ukraine Honduras Paraguay Brazil Algeria China Pakistan Senegal United Kingdom Italy Russia France Germany Dominican Republic Nicaragua Total 1,258,894 1,250,991 1,288,562
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.
Origin200020052010201520202025Article968,999Moroccans in Spain676,534Colombians in Spain609,270Romanians in Spain377,809Venezuelans in Spain345,777Italians in Spain266,462British migration to Spain260,544Peruvians in Spain238,372Chinese people in Spain202,105Ukrainians in Spain177,929Hondurans in Spain148,585Argentines in Spain132,372Ecuadorians in Spain131,380Germans in Spain127,015French in Spain122,635Paraguayans in Spain116,641Pakistanis in Spain110,665Russians in Spain109,930Portuguese in Spain109,604Bulgarians in Spain105,990Brazilians in Spain101,432Senegalese people in Spain89,592Algerians in Spain88,367Cubans in Spain72,492Nicaraguans in Spain67,242Bolivians in Spain64,212Dominicans in Spain63,015Indians in Spain62,896Dutch people in Spain61,258Poles in Spain57,379Americans in SpainTOTAL6,911,671
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 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.