Spainability rankings · Updated July 2026
Where Dutch people actually live in Spain — the top towns
A census count, not a recommendation: the towns with the most Netherlands-born residents in 2025.
Sorted from Spain's full municipal census (all 8,132 towns) — not limited to our published town profiles.
Related: Where Dutch people actually live (interactive map) .
The ranking
-
Has a full Spainability town profile — Barcelona.
-
Has a full Spainability town profile — Madrid.
- 3
Alfàs del Pi, l' the Valencia region
1,398 Netherlands-born residents (2025)In Alicante/Alacant.
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Has a full Spainability town profile — Valencia/València.
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Has a full Spainability town profile — Alicante/Alacant.
- 6
Altea the Valencia region
847 Netherlands-born residents (2025)In Alicante/Alacant.
-
Has a full Spainability town profile — Málaga.
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Has a full Spainability town profile — Málaga.
- 9
Rojales the Valencia region
758 Netherlands-born residents (2025)In Alicante/Alacant.
- 10
Nucia, la the Valencia region
681 Netherlands-born residents (2025)In Alicante/Alacant.
How we ranked this
This list is NOT persona-scored. It's sorted straight from Spain's 2025 census: the towns with the most Netherlands-born residents, 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 is a raw census count of Netherlands-born residents, not a recommendation. Big cities rise on total population; the per-1,000 column shows where Dutch-born residents are more concentrated.
Compare the top 10
| # | Town | NL-born (2025) | per 1,000 | Growth ’21–’25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 3,002 | 1.75 | 14% |
| 2 | Madrid | 1,826 | 0.53 | 17% |
| 3 | Alfàs del Pi, l' | 1,398 | 66.43 | 18% |
| 4 | València | 1,213 | 1.44 | 56% |
| 5 | Xàbia | 1,028 | 33.36 | 40% |
| 6 | Altea | 847 | 34.25 | 13% |
| 7 | Marbella | 842 | 5.25 | 27% |
| 8 | Mijas | 823 | 8.73 | 21% |
| 9 | Rojales | 758 | 43.34 | 66% |
| 10 | Nucia, la | 681 | 35.23 | 4% |
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 Dutch people live in Spain?
Madrid and Barcelona have large Netherlands-born populations by raw count, while coastal towns can rank more highly by concentration. This list shows both measures from Spain's census.
Does this count Dutch citizens?
No. It counts residents born in the Netherlands, regardless of their current citizenship. Dutch citizens born elsewhere are not included in this birth-country layer.
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.