Spainability rankings · Updated July 2026
Where British people actually live in Spain — the top towns
A census count, not a recommendation: the towns with the most UK nationals, from the Padrón register.
Sorted from the 19-province Padrón extract (2,379 municipalities) — not limited to our published town profiles. For persona-scored picks among audited towns, see our British retirees or remote-worker rankings.
Related: Where British people actually live (interactive map) , Best places for British retirees and Best places for British remote workers .
The ranking
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Has a full Spainability town profile — Alicante.
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Has a full Spainability town profile — Barcelona.
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Has a full Spainability town profile — Málaga.
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Has a full Spainability town profile — Madrid.
- 5
Rojales the Valencia region
5,802 UK nationals (2022)In Alicante.
- 6
Fuengirola Andalusia
5,507 UK nationals (2022)In Málaga.
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Has a full Spainability town profile — Málaga.
- 8
Jávea Alicante
4,964 UK nationals (2022)In Alicante.
- 9
Estepona Andalusia
4,838 UK nationals (2022)In Málaga.
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Has a full Spainability town profile — Alicante.
How we ranked this
This list is NOT persona-scored. It's sorted straight from Spain's Padrón municipal register (2022): the towns with the most UK nationals, largest count first.
- Data INE census (population, origins), AEMET climate normals, regional PISA scores, and the Health Ministry's SISLE waiting lists — each town compared against the Spanish average.
- Reproducible This is a straight census sort — the same numbers you'd get from INE, just ranked and linked.
- What we don't score This counts UK nationals on the municipal register, not UK-born — and it's a count, not a recommendation. The Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol dominate because that's where the British community concentrated.
Compare the top 10
| # | Town | UK nationals (2022) | per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orihuela | 10,419 | 129 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 10,045 | 6.1 |
| 3 | Mijas | 8,804 | 98.4 |
| 4 | Madrid | 7,595 | 2.3 |
| 5 | Rojales | 5,802 | 342.4 |
| 6 | Fuengirola | 5,507 | 66.2 |
| 7 | Marbella | 5,232 | 34.7 |
| 8 | Jávea | 4,964 | 172.8 |
| 9 | Estepona | 4,838 | 65 |
| 10 | Torrevieja | 4,722 | 56.5 |
Values from the Spainability dataset (INE / AEMET / regional sources). "no data" = we don't have that number for this town and never guess it.
Questions
Where do most British people live in Spain?
British residents concentrate heavily on the Costa Blanca (Alicante) and Costa del Sol (Málaga) — towns like Orihuela, Torrevieja and Mijas have the largest UK populations. This is from Spain's 2022 Padrón municipal register.
How many British people live in Spain?
Spain's Padrón register recorded roughly 290,000 UK nationals in 2022, concentrated in a handful of coastal provinces. This list ranks the towns where they're most numerous.
This is where they already are, not where you should go
Get your ranking, not this one →
This list scores one representative persona. Answer a dozen honest questions and we score all 8,132 municipalities against your priorities — climate, cost, healthcare, community, getting home — with the tradeoffs shown as plainly as the wins.
Take the 3-minute quiz →Last updated: July 2026 · Next update: on INE's next census release (expected 2027).
Re-generated from the Spainability dataset on each data release — the ranking is reproducible, not editorial.