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As recorded by the source, Moroccans ranked as the foreign nationality with more residents in Spain in 2024, closely followed by Colombians. 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 moved 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 2023, Colombians ranked first as the foreign nationality that most relocated to Spain, distantly followed by Moroccans and Venezuelans. 

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 2023. By comparison, Spain’s foreign population stood slightly almost at nine 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.