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Foreigners with residence card. By country of nationality. Provinces

Foreigners with a valid certificate of registration or residence card. By country of nationality. Provinces 2021
Barcelona Girona Lleida Tarragona Catalonia
Total 895,770 169,304 96,517 157,616 1,319,207
Total European Union (EU27) 330,356 57,123 46,835 63,990 498,304
Romania 52,836 21,799 35,330 35,980 145,945
Italy 95,959 6,091 1,057 6,169 109,276
France 50,501 10,076 619 4,150 65,346
Germany 27,773 3,766 304 2,891 34,734
Portugal 20,200 2,880 2,111 2,160 27,351
Poland 15,943 2,055 2,497 2,397 22,892
Bulgaria 9,272 2,647 3,460 3,025 18,404
Netherlands 13,222 2,602 182 1,622 17,628
Sweden 10,389 246 30 178 10,843
Belgium 5,457 1,796 103 1,166 8,522
Lithuania 1,916 615 248 1,308 4,087
Czech Republic 2,409 412 131 599 3,551
Slovakia 1,697 433 298 735 3,163
Ireland 4,302 357 53 314 5,026
Hungary 3,137 310 61 372 3,880
Austria 2,957 148 60 131 3,296
Rest of European Union 12,386 890 291 793 14,360
Total rest of Europe 64,635 15,026 5,430 12,698 97,789
United Kingdom 29,346 4,429 448 4,811 39,034
Ukraine 9,961 3,682 3,534 2,623 19,800
Russia 13,142 4,987 648 2,527 21,304
Moldavia 1,600 516 402 1,136 3,654
Swiss 3,341 810 28 837 5,016
Rest of Europe 7,245 602 370 764 8,981
Total Africa 164,377 58,491 32,482 49,174 304,524
Morocco 123,302 40,902 17,364 41,311 222,879
Gambia 5,331 8,234 1,787 461 15,813
Senegal 11,286 3,603 4,369 3,261 22,519
Algeria 3,289 785 2,566 1,892 8,532
Mali 3,508 2,030 2,257 314 8,109
Nigeria 3,651 477 561 719 5,408
Ghana 5,628 541 452 435 7,056
Guinea 1,947 725 1,276 143 4,091
Mauritania 1,024 426 396 26 1,872
Rest of Africa 5,411 768 1,454 612 8,245
Total America 181,905 24,588 7,801 19,533 233,827
Ecuador 21,445 1,220 554 1,726 24,945
Colombia 17,642 2,979 1,963 4,201 26,785
Bolivia 18,393 1,995 576 1,154 22,118
Peru 15,337 820 618 880 17,655
Dominican Republic 13,351 1,203 694 1,165 16,413
Argentina 14,683 1,988 472 2,304 19,447
Brazil 10,458 1,685 996 1,795 14,934
Chile 5,615 798 172 704 7,289
Uruguay 4,426 1,079 129 783 6,417
Cuba 4,798 848 277 1,010 6,933
Honduras 11,515 7,069 270 611 19,465
Paraguai 8,214 274 93 481 9,062
Venezuela 19,862 1,375 695 1,673 23,605
Mexico 4,251 301 115 377 5,044
United States 6,608 471 74 306 7,459
Rest of America 5,307 483 103 363 6,256
Total Asia 153,543 13,915 3,937 12,140 183,535
China 55,462 4,952 2,155 4,148 66,717
Pakistan 45,404 1,283 1,003 4,518 52,208
India 16,781 5,877 394 1,823 24,875
Philippines 10,450 372 30 455 11,307
Bangladesh 7,095 113 79 34 7,321
Georgia 4,422 421 88 439 5,370
Armenia 2,916 200 30 110 3,256
Rest of Asia 11,013 697 158 613 12,481
Total Oceania 747 94 12 36 889
Not stated 207 67 20 45 339
Source: Ministry Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations.

Last update: December 23, 2022.

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 "..".