According to the latest data released on Thursday, the province of Alicante lost 22,000 foreign residents in 2014, for the second consecutive year.
The trend for foreigners moving to Spain had been increasing during the property boom, but in 2013 the decline had its most significant impact, which continued through last year.
The British, Romanians and Germans have led the decline, but across the province, 20.6% of the population are foreigners, a figure which has remained almost constant, as residents from Algeria and America in particular are topping the charts for more residents moving to Spain, keeping the overall figure balanced.
The city of Alicante is in first place in terms of foreign residents with 44,901, Torrevieja is in second place with 41,434 and Orihuela is in third place with 31,028 foreign residents.
The decline was most significant in Torrevieja however as the decline in the foreign population has resulted in the city losing its big city status and falling below the 100,000 resident threshold for the first time in almost a decade, resulting in less money per head in subsidy.