The province of Alicante is continuing its rapid expansion and is now closing in on 2.1 million inhabitants. According to provisional data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) as of 1 April 2026, the territory has reached 2,089,554 residents, consolidating its position as the fourth most populated province in Spain, behind only Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.
Growth is moving at a fast pace. In January 2026, the province had 2,080,243 inhabitants, meaning it gained around 9,000 new residents in just a single quarter. It was only one year ago, in January 2025, that Alicante officially surpassed the two million inhabitant milestone for the first time.
One of the most striking statistics is the proportion of the foreign population. Out of the more than 2 million current residents, 646,778 hold nationalities other than Spanish, compared to 1,442,776 Spanish nationals. This means that practically one in three inhabitants in the province is foreign, reflecting the strong international and cosmopolitan character of Alicante and its ability to attract both workers and residents from other countries, many of whom own property in the region. In 2022, the figure stood at 388,748, meaning the foreign population has practically doubled in four years. In this respect, Alicante surpasses Madrid (16.9% foreigners of the total), Barcelona (18.95%) and Valencia (17%), despite those provinces having larger overall populations.
In terms of overall population, Alicante now surpasses historically more populated provinces like Seville and reinforces its position as one of the major demographic centres of Spain.
International migration continues to be a major driver of this growth, which affects a large part of the country. The main nationalities of immigrants arriving in Spain during the first quarter of 2026 were Colombian, with 38,600; followed by Moroccan, with 25,700; and Venezuelan, with 21,200. Significant flows also came from Peru, Italy, Honduras, Algeria and Brazil.
Regarding departures from the country, the nationalities with the highest number of emigrants were Moroccan and Colombian, both with more than 11,000 departures recorded, followed by Venezuelan and Romanian. These movements reflect the high level of international mobility that Spain maintains both as an arrival and departure destination.
Population growth extended across virtually the entire country. All autonomous communities and cities gained inhabitants during the first quarter of 2026, except for the Canary Islands and Melilla, which registered slight declines.
The Valencian Community led the country in relative population growth with a 0.39% increase, consolidating its position as one of the regions with the greatest capacity to attract new residents. It was followed by Castilla-La Mancha, with a 0.36% increase, and the Region of Murcia, with 0.33%.
The evolution of some cities particularly clearly reflects this trend. Among the main Spanish municipalities, Torrevieja became the city with the highest relative population growth in 2025, after increasing by 4.6%. The Alicante town thus confirms its strong demographic expansion and its consolidation as one of the major residential hotspots on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, driven by both the arrival of foreign residents and the relocation of Spanish residents.
Following Torrevieja are L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, with an increase of 2.9%, and Roquetas de Mar, with 2.6%. Population increases were also notable in Elche, with 2.18%, and Castellón de la Plana, with 2.13%, confirming the strong demographic growth of several Mediterranean cities.
In addition to population growth, Spain is also continuing to increase its number of households. As of 1 April 2026, there were 19,812,292 households, after growing by 52,943 during the first quarter of the year. This trend reflects both population growth and the social and family changes that have been occurring in recent decades, with increasingly smaller households and a greater diversification of living arrangements.
Spain’s population continues to grow at a steady pace and has once again reached a record high. According to provisional data from the Continuous Population Statistics published by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the country added 97,021 new inhabitants during the first quarter of 2026, reaching 49,687,120 residents as of 1 April. This is the highest figure recorded to date in the statistical agency’s historical series.
The increase is not a one-off event. Compared to the same period last year, Spain has gained 459,462 inhabitants, consolidating a demographic growth trend that has persisted for several years and is closely linked to increased immigration and the arrival of foreign residents.
In fact, data from the INE clearly shows that current population growth is mainly due to the influx of people born abroad. While the population born in Spain decreased by 31,822 people during the quarter, the foreign-born population increased by more than 123,000. Currently, more than 10.15 million people born outside Spain reside in the country, a figure that reflects the profound demographic and social transformation experienced in recent years.
Meanwhile, the number of citizens with foreign nationality also continues to rise. Between January and March 2026, Spain gained 94,182 foreign residents, reaching a total of 7,346,414. In contrast, the population with Spanish nationality barely grew by 2,839 inhabitants during the same period. With these data, Spain maintains an expansive demographic dynamic in which immigration, international mobility and the growth of certain areas of the Mediterranean coast, such as Torrevieja and Elche, continue to be key factors.
