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LIFE IN SPAIN

More foreigners and people living alone: What Spain will be like in the future

Within three decades, new data reveals that there will continue to be more deaths than births in Spain, population growth will be mainly due to immigration and a third of all households will be occupied by a single person.

Published: 25 June 2024 10:39 CEST
More foreigners and people living alone: What Spain will be like in the future
An ageing population and more foreigners: Spain of the future. Photo: Alex Moliski / Pexels

Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) has released a report revealing what the country will look like all the way up to 2074. The figures have been based on how the population will evolve if current demographic trends continue.

Spain’s population will grow by five million

Spain currently has 48,692,804 inhabitants, but this number is set to grow by an extra 5 million by 2039. It’s important to note that the growth will not be equal across the country, and will only focus on specific areas. Much of the country will continue to suffer from depopulation.

Catalonia and Madrid will be the two regions with the greatest growth, with nearly 1.2 million and one million respectively. The greatest relative increases, however, will be recorded in the Balearic Islands (19.0 percent), Valencia (19 percent ) and Murcia (17.2 percent).

On the other hand, the steepest declines will be seen in Asturias (-4.1 percent), Extremadura (-3.4 percent) and Castilla y León (-0.7 percent).

READ ALSO: Growing number of foreigners drives Spain’s population rise

28 percent of the population will be over 65

Spain’s population is growing older and older, and by 2042, 28 percent will be over age 65 compared to the current 20.4 percent. Fast forward to 2055, and this will reach 30.5 percent.

Six percent of the population of Spain has already turned 80, but in 2074 this will double, reaching 12.3 percent. And within 15 years the number of even older people will practically triple. Centenarians will exceed 46,000 compared to nearly 17,000 this year.

Birthrates will increase

Spain’s birthrate has been in decline over recent years, but starting this year, it will begin to grow until 2042. The data predicts that 5.5 million children will be born in the next 15 years,  and the average number of children per woman will grow slightly, going from 1.16 registered this year to 1.24 in 2038.

In 2042, birthrates will begin to fall again, but from 2058 they will rise once more, due to more people having reached fertile ages. The number of births is also thought to be boosted by immigration, with more and more foreigners moving here and having children too.

But, the 5.5 million babies predicted to be born here between 2024 and 2038, will still be 8.7 less than those born in the previous 15 years.

Over a quarter of the population will have been born outside Spain

Spain’s population will not only grow thanks to increasing birthrates but more so because of the numbers of foreigners continuing to move here.

By 2039, the INE predicts that a total of 28.7 percent of the people living in Spain will have been born outside of the country. And by 2074 that figure will reach 39 percent.

This means the population born in Spain is set to gradually decrease, going from 81.9 percent today to 61 percent within 50 years.

READ ALSO: Spain needs 25 million foreign workers to keep its pensions afloat

7.7 million will live alone

It seems that Spaniards are increasingly choosing to live or will be forced to live on their own, with stats revealing that by 2039, one-third of households in the country will only be occupied by a single person.

This equates to 7.7 million single-person homes, compared to the current 5.4 million. In fact, in 2039 the most common type of household will be that of a single person – 33.5 percent of the total, ahead of the 31 percent of two-person households.  

For members

SPANISH LAW

Why Spain’s law to ban spam calls has failed

A year after legislation was passed to prevent companies making unwanted spam calls to people (including steep fines for offenders) many in Spain are still receiving them.

Published: 2 July 2024 09:24 CEST
Why Spain's law to ban spam calls has failed

A year has passed since the Spanish government brought in legislation to try and stop spam calls, but for many in Spain these infuriating marketing and advertising cold calls continue.

“The reality is that calls are just as if not more intense than before this regulation,” Samuel Parra, a technology law specialist, said recently in the Spanish press.

Data from Spain’s main consumer watchdog, Organización de Consumidores y Usuarios (OCU), backs this up. It reports that nine out of ten consumers in Spain continue to receive these spam calls despite the change in the law.

READ ALSO: Spain’s ban on spam calls to come into force on June 29th

Facua, another consumer group, reports that 4.1 percent of people still receive more than five calls a month, 8.2 percent receive four, 12.5 percent receive three, and 9.7 percent receive at least two.

The main objective of the Telecommunications Law, passed in June 2023, was to stop the abundance of spam calls, which in Spain are particularly bad and are usually commercial sales calls trying to sell you something. However, the reality is that, after being in force for a year, many Spaniards are still receiving these sorts of spam calls.

Almudena Velázquez, a consumer affairs lawyer, told Spanish state broadcaster TVE that companies bypass (and at times break) the law by using a so-called ‘legitimate interest’ that allows companies to offer similar products to those the consumer already has.

For example, if you’ve recently taken out a loan, they could reasonably try and sell you a credit card via a cold call.

Experts say this due to companies exploiting data protection rules. Specifically, Article 6 of Spain’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows for the use of personal data, such as telephone numbers, when there is a justifiable ‘legitimate interest’ of the company.

Ileana Izvernicveanu, spokesperson for the OCU, described this concept as a “no man’s land”. In other words, spam phone call companies are exploiting a legal grey area in order to continue with their sales calls.

Another possible explanation, the OCU warns, is that consumers themselves have unwillingly or unknowingly consented to receive these spam calls by giving away their personal data through other means, whether online or when purchasing products.

You can remove your consent by registering on the Robinson List, a free advertising exclusion system in Spain.

Spain’s Telecommunications Law also pledged to open legal proceedings against any company which makes spam calls, regardless of whether the call centre is based in Spain or overseas. It’s unclear if this has happened yet.

Other legislation introduced in 2022 also prohibited cold calling before 9am and after 9m, as well as at weekends or on public holidays. Spain’s main phone and internet providers also committed to not calling phone users between 3pm and 4pm, ‘siesta time’ in Spain.

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