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Date Published: 15/11/2022
ARCHIVED - More expats settle on the Costa Blanca than almost anywhere else in Spain: which are the most popular towns?
Only Madrid and Barcelona are home to more overseas residents than Alicante province
Alicante province is one of Spain's top destinations for foreigners living in Spain, surpassed only by Madrid and Barcelona, with the Vega Baja topping the list in terms of expats registered in the region's towns' census.
According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in 2021, 373,423 international residents were registered in the province, the third highest number of foreigners in the country.
So which towns are home to more expats than Spaniards?
A look at the INE 2020 figures shows that the highest foreign populated municipalities are concentrated in the Vega Baja and Marina Alta regions.
In the Vega Baja, Rojales leads the way with 68% of the registered population non-Spanish. The town is followed by Torrevieja and San Fulgencio, both with 63%, and Algorfa and San Miguel de Salinas, tied on 51%.
In the Marina Alta region, heading the table is Llíber, with 65%, followed by El Poble Nou de Benitatxell (59%), Alcalalí (55%), Teulada with 52%.
The Vinalopó Mitja also makes the list with Hondón de los Frailes, where 52% of the population are of foreign origin.
Rojales is home to 16,000 residents, 11,000 of whom are registered foreigners from 82 different countries. Antonio Pérez has been mayor since 2003, and has adapted "perfectly well" to the shift in census over the last two decades, learning English and French and enlisting the help of an interpreter for other languages.
"We now have almost more houses than inhabitants on the census with 15,000 homes built within the municipality's 27 square kilometres of land available," he explained, pointing out that businessman Justo Quesada was the driving force behind Ciudad Quesada, "the urbanisation that changed the landscape of this town in the 1970s".
Ciudad Quesada is now home to more than 6,000 British people, but the first colony was Swiss, according to Pérez.
"That's where the Quesadas first went to look for buyers of villas more than four decades ago. Their offer of plots of between 300 and 500 metres with a swimming pool was very attractive for those who wanted to spend their retirement in a warmer climate."
With an average year-round temperature of 15.9ºC, it was easy to sell a good climate and offer greater purchasing power to Europeans who wanted to retire without the hassle of the hustle and bustle of the beachfront. "Because it's not the same to live here as to come and spend your holidays," added Pérez.
Not surprisingly, the British make up the largest colonies, followed by Colombians and Russians. However, Torrevieja municipal techinician, Jean Paul Mulero, predicts this will change by the end of 2022.
"This is due to the war between Russia and Ukraine. These two countries used to be the third and fourth largest colony of foreigners, but now they are swapping positions."
As is the case in Benidorm, Torrevieja Town Council has emphasised the efforts made to help foreign residents integrate into daily life.
"It's complicated, but we do it by working with local associations, of which there are many," said Mulero. "We try to make a virtue out of what seems to be a problem because foreign residents have a different way of thinking, from gastronomy to sports. We want to enrich ourselves with all kinds of cultures."
Image of tribute to Queen Elizabeth II: Ayuntamiento de Rojales
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