The municipality of Arona in Tenerife is among the Spanish cities that experienced the most significant population growth in 2022, with an increase of 3.4%, as revealed by the census data as of January 1, 2023, published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca and Estepona on the Costa del Sol are also among the large Spanish municipalities with the highest population growth in 2022. In contrast, two Andalusian cities, Linares in Jaén and Cádiz, experienced the most significant population loss.
In one year, Torrevieja (Alicante) saw a 6.8% increase in its population, and Estepona (Málaga) grew by 4.6%. Meanwhile, Linares (Jaén) and Cádiz not only failed to grow but lost 1.1% of their population each over those 12 months.
Other municipalities with notable population increases include Benidorm (Alicante) with 4.3%, and Marbella and Benalmádena (Málaga) with 3.9% and 3.8% growth, respectively.
Following them are Rivas-Vaciamadrid (Madrid) and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona), both with a 3.5% increase; Arona (Santa Cruz de Tenerife) with 3.4%; and Colmenar Viejo and Boadilla del Monte in the Community of Madrid, with increases of 3.3% and 3.2%, respectively.
In absolute terms, Madrid saw the largest population increase in 2022, with 73,149 new residents, followed by Barcelona, Valencia, and Alicante. L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, not a provincial capital, had an increase of 9,366 residents.
In terms of population decline, after Linares and Cádiz, Puertollano (Ciudad Real) experienced a 0.8% drop in 2022, followed by Coslada and Fuenlabrada in Madrid, each losing 0.5% of their population.
The list of the ten large Spanish municipalities with the most significant population decreases last year includes Avilés (Asturias), Ferrol (A Coruña), Zamora, Getxo (Bizkaia), and Cuenca, with declines ranging from 0.2% to 0.4%.
The INE’s annual statistics also indicate that four out of ten Spaniards, or 40.1% of the population, lived in towns with over 100,000 inhabitants at the beginning of 2023. Two out of ten resided in municipalities with fewer than 10,000 residents, and only three out of every 100 lived in towns with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants.
As of January 1, 2023, Spain had 65 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, including 36 capital cities and 29 non-capital cities. The most populated non-capital cities include Vigo, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Gijón, Elche, and Terrassa.
Additionally, there were 4,978 villages with 1,000 or fewer inhabitants, with 1,369 of these having 100 or fewer residents, and 18 with ten or fewer.
In 4,725 of the 8,131 municipalities existing as of January 1, 2023, or 58.1% of the total, the population either increased or remained the same during 2022.
