Germans and Britons still the main groups

The foreign population of the Balearics has rocketed by 17.2% in just one year, according to new figures from the National Statistics Institute. The figures show that the flow of migrants to the islands remains intense, with over 32,000 foreigners and 9,000 Spaniards arriving in one year. The figures also reveal that the total population of the islands on Jan 1st 2008 was 1,072,844 with 20.7% percent of residents being of non Spanish nationality. This means that the archipelago is the autonomous area with the highest percentage of immigrants.

Germans accounted for the largest single group of immigrants with 33,208 registered, while Britons made up the second largest group with 22,055. Moroccans came in third place with 20,652 registered, followed by Italians with 14,171. Other notable populations include Argentineans, Ecuadorians and Romanians.

The town with the highest number of foreign residents is Palma (77,330), followed by Calvia, where over 33% of residents are foreign. Ibiza Town came in third place with 11,604 foreigners, or almost a quarter of its inhabitants.

16.5% of Spain’s population as a whole is made up of foreign nationals.