According to data provided by the Department of Census and Statistics at the Torrevieja City Council, the total number of foreign residents in this town in Alicante province is 49,944 compared to 50,477 Spaniards.

This means that out of the 100,421 registered on the Padrón, almost half or 49.74 percent are foreigners.

Data shows that they hail from 122 different countries, but the majority are from Ukraine, Russia and the UK.

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There are 7,650 residents from Ukraine, 5,837 from Russia and 4,912 from the United Kingdom.

Since January 2023, a total of 1,879 new Ukrainians and 905 Russians have also been registered in the city.

Behind these are Colombian residents, with 4,360 registered residents, Moroccans with 2,473, followed by Swedes (1,677), Romanians (1,604), Bulgarians (1,524), Belgians (1,474), Italians (1,246), Germans (1,159), Algerians (982), Poles (909), Chinese (830), Brazilians (803), Argentinians (777), Norwegians (667), Venezuelans (664) Finns (622), French (621), Belarusians (582), Lithuanians (559), Indians (533), Dutch (529), Cubans (447) and Irish (384).

Figures from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) are slightly different, but they only have data available from January 2022, meaning that it’s highly likely they will be much lower than the current numbers. It lists a total of 89,290 people registered in Torrevieja in 2022. Of these, 33,961 were foreigners and 49,586 were Spaniards.

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Torrevieja was also the city with the greatest relative population growth in 2022 in the whole of Spain at 6,8+ percent and the city with the greatest proportion of foreigners at 40.7 percent.

Given the high numbers of Ukrainians and Russians who moved to the city in 2023, it’s likely that these figures will indeed be similar to those from Torrevieja City Council.

Some people believe, however, that at certain times of the year, foreigners already outnumber locals because of the number of second homeowners in the area.

Many of these people spend three to six months in Torrevieja, preferring to see out the winters in a milder and warmer climate and then returning home during the hot, busy summers. Of course, these are replaced by tourists who flock here in the summer holidays.

The Costa Blanca, and particularly Alicante province, is one most popular places for foreign residents in the whole of Spain. According to INE data from 2022, it was the fourth most popular province behind Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia.

Data from that same year also shows that 40 percent of homes sold to foreign buyers in Spain were located in Alicante province.

Foreigners are attracted to Torrevieja because of its excellent weather, mild winters and excellent beaches. In fact, the Alicante province as a whole has a total of 74 Blue Flag beaches recognised for their great water quality.

Torrevieja is also only a 45-minute drive from Alicante airport, making it easily accessible.