Skip to main content

Foreigners with residence card. By sex and by age groups. Provinces

Foreigners with a valid certificate of registration or residence card. By sex and by age groups. Provinces 2015
Barcelona Girona Lleida Tarragona Catalonia Spain % Cat./Spa.
By sex 715,140 147,911 83,372 139,049 1,085,472 4,982,183 21.8
Men 382,787 80,306 47,073 75,406 585,572 2,624,315 22.3
Women 332,353 67,605 36,299 63,643 499,900 2,357,868 21.2
By age groups (1) 715,140 147,911 83,372 139,049 1,085,472 4,982,183 21.8
From 0 to 15 years 97,005 23,636 12,724 22,962 156,327 640,022 24.4
From 16 to 64 years 596,663 114,670 69,505 109,477 890,315 4,031,023 22.1
More than 64 years 21,472 9,605 1,143 6,610 38,830 311,138 12.5
Source: Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security.
Note: (1) The total includes those that "state no age".

Last update: June 3, 2016.

Methodological note

Definition of concepts

Foreign
Person that does not have Spanish nationality, notwithstanding the stipulations of special laws and international treaties signed by Spain (Organic Law 4/2000, of January 11, on rights and liberties of foreigners in Spain and their social integration).
Foreign residents
Number of foreigners, according to the records of the Permanent Observatory of Immigration of the Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs, which on a determinate date reside in Catalonia and have a valid residence permit. The data is stock-type information recorded on December 31 every year.

Methodological aspects

These statistics are obtained from files produced by the Central Register of Foreigners, an administrative record managed by the Directorate General of the Police and the Civil Guard, which is part of the Ministry for the Interior.

The statistical treatment of these files corresponds to the Permanent Immigration Observatory, which is part of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security.

These are stock statistics that are produced quarterly. They count and analyse the number of foreigners with a valid registry certificate or residency card at the end of each quarter.

The legislation applicable to foreigners residing in Spain depends on their residency system and this, to a large extent, on the nationality of foreigners.

These statistics do not include the following foreigners:

  • Those that are only staying temporarily in Spain (three months per half-year).
  • Those that are in Spain with a permit to be in the country for a course, studies, research work, training or volunteering.
  • Trans-frontier workers that do not reside in Spain.
  • Applicants for asylum or persons that have obtained refugee or expatriate status.
  • Foreigners from the European Union that have not applied for inscription to the Central Registry of Foreigners or that have applied for it but have not yet received the corresponding certificate.
  • Foreigners whose documentation has expired and are in the process of renewing it.

Foreigners authorised to remain in Spain must inform the Immigration Office or the police headquarters in the place where they reside or are staying of any changes of nationality, usual abode or marital status.

The country of nationality is considered to be the nationality of the foreigner. In the case of dual nationality, the one counted is that used by the foreigners when making the application for a registration permit, card or certificate.

The province is that in which the foreigner reports that they reside at the moment when their currently applicable registration certificate of residency card is issued.

Data from 2010 onward has been reviewed with the aim of excluding persons who have been granted Spanish nationality and foreigners who have expired, in Spain, and whose residence permits were valid at the time of their death.

Data are on December, 31.

Unavailable information is represented using the symbol ":". When the value is lower than that of the minimum unit to be able to estimate the statistical operation or if it effects statistical confidentiality, the symbol used is "..".