El Mundo: One-third of Barcelona’s population are immigrants

The share of immigrants living in Barcelona has risen to over 31% of the city’s population — nearly one in three residents.

According to El Mundo, this is a dramatic increase from just 5% in 2000. The city is home to around 1.7 million people, marking the highest proportion of immigrants in roughly four decades. Among residents aged 25 to 39, foreigners now outnumber Spaniards.

Barcelona hosts people from 183 nationalities, with many migrants arriving from Argentina, Venezuela, Honduras, Italy, China, Colombia, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, and Ecuador.

Earlier, Spain’s National Statistics Institute reported that the country’s population exceeded 49.4 million as of October 1, 2025 — a historic high. The demographic growth is largely driven by foreign-born residents, as the number of native-born Spaniards has declined. Currently, there are more than 9.8 million immigrants living in Spain.

By Vugar Khalilov