The number of British nationals registered in Spain fell by 6% in 2014, to 282,120, according to the latest figures from the country’s National Statistics Institute.
This figure reflected a general decline in the number of foreign nationals living in Spain for the third year running. High unemployment rates have been blamed for the fall in numbers, with many of the highest levels of repatriation linked to Spain’s former colonies in Latin America, specifically Peru (down 21.3%), Ecuador (down 19.5%) and Colombia (down 17%).
The number of foreigners living in Spain soared during the boom of the early part of this century, rising from 923,879 in 2000 to 5.2million in 2011. As of 1 January 2015, there were just over 4.7million foreigners living in there, 6.1% down from the previous year.
