The Spainability Origins Map · UK nationals layer

Where British People Actually Live in Spain

Name: Spainability Origins Map (UK nationals)
Creator: Spainability
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

269,861 UK nationals on 1 January 2022, mapped by province — tap to drill down. Nationality on the municipal register, not birth country.

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Top provinces by count

Tap a covered province on the map or pick from the list. On phones, tap once to zoom a region, then tap a province for details. Provinces outside the 19-province Padrón extract are not covered by this layer — blank means “not in this table”, not zero.

UK nationals per 1,000 < 2.94 → 55.72+ · grey = province not in Padrón extract

Source: Spainability Origins Map, INE Padrón Continuo — nationality, 1 Jan 2022 · province rollups from the 19-province Padrón extract

Last updated: July 2026 · Next update: on INE's next census release (expected 2027).

Key findings

As of 1 January 2022, 269,861 UK nationals were recorded in the 19 provinces this table covers (INE Padrón Continuo — nationality, not birth country).
The largest municipal counts are Orihuela (10,419) , Barcelona (10,045) , and Mijas (8,804) .
The highest UK nationals concentration among towns with at least 50 residents in this layer is Partaloa, Almería — 556.3 per 1,000.
By raw count, Orihuela leads with 10,419 UK nationals.

Source: Spainability Origins Map, INE Padrón Continuo — nationality, 1 Jan 2022

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The 50 towns with the most British residents

Sort any column. Toggle between raw counts and per-capita concentration (minimum 50 UK nationals, to filter out small-town noise). Town names link to a profile when we have one.

Top 50 Spanish towns by UK nationals (2022)
	Town	Province	UK nationals (2022)	per 1,000
1	Orihuela	Alicante/Alacant	10,419	129.0
2	Barcelona	Barcelona	10,045	6.1
3	Mijas	Málaga	8,804	98.4
4	Madrid	Madrid	7,595	2.3
5	Rojales	Alicante/Alacant	5,802	342.4
6	Fuengirola	Málaga	5,507	66.2
7	Marbella	Málaga	5,232	34.7
8	Estepona	Málaga	4,838	65.0
9	Torrevieja	Alicante/Alacant	4,722	56.5
10	Mazarrón	Murcia	4,601	136.5
11	Calvià	Balears, Illes	4,362	83.2
12	Arona	Santa Cruz de Tenerife	4,345	52.4
13	Benidorm	Alicante/Alacant	3,874	55.6
14	Benalmádena	Málaga	3,719	50.8
15	Adeje	Santa Cruz de Tenerife	3,620	73.5
16	San Fulgencio	Alicante/Alacant	3,331	366.4
17	Pilar de la Horadada	Alicante/Alacant	2,801	122.1
18	Alhaurín el Grande	Málaga	2,669	101.0
19	València	Valencia/València	2,629	3.3
20	Manilva	Málaga	2,590	151.0
21	Palma	Balears, Illes	2,526	6.1
22	San Miguel de Abona	Santa Cruz de Tenerife	2,496	113.9
23	Tías	Palmas, Las	2,475	117.4
24	Arboleas	Almería	2,450	540.6
25	Murcia	Murcia	2,392	5.2
26	Cartagena	Murcia	2,360	10.9
27	Teulada	Alicante/Alacant	2,285	191.3
28	Alfàs del Pi, l'	Alicante/Alacant	2,257	109.2
29	Mojácar	Almería	2,213	294.0
30	San Miguel de Salinas	Alicante/Alacant	2,191	329.0
31	Antigua	Palmas, Las	2,052	158.6
32	San Roque	Cádiz	1,906	57.7
33	Oliva, La	Palmas, Las	1,903	68.1
34	Benahavís	Málaga	1,880	214.5
35	Torrox	Málaga	1,833	91.7
36	Coín	Málaga	1,780	73.2
37	Nerja	Málaga	1,778	82.9
38	Santa Eulària des Riu	Balears, Illes	1,717	42.3
39	Calp	Alicante/Alacant	1,711	71.0
40	Yaiza	Palmas, Las	1,630	96.3
41	Teguise	Palmas, Las	1,556	66.5
42	Algorfa	Alicante/Alacant	1,471	418.7
43	Santa Pola	Alicante/Alacant	1,427	39.5
44	Torre-Pacheco	Murcia	1,407	36.9
45	Torremolinos	Málaga	1,394	20.3
46	Albox	Almería	1,269	105.0
47	Dénia	Alicante/Alacant	1,261	28.7
48	Guardamar del Segura	Alicante/Alacant	1,214	75.2
49	Málaga	Málaga	1,200	2.1
50	Línea de la Concepción, La	Cádiz	1,199	19.0
1	Partaloa	Almería	558	556.3
2	Arboleas	Almería	2,450	540.6
3	Bédar	Almería	447	443.0
4	Algorfa	Alicante/Alacant	1,471	418.7
5	Alcalalí	Alicante/Alacant	531	393.6
6	Benigembla	Alicante/Alacant	188	367.2
7	San Fulgencio	Alicante/Alacant	3,331	366.4
8	Daya Vieja	Alicante/Alacant	239	349.9
9	Hondón de los Frailes	Alicante/Alacant	439	348.1
10	Rojales	Alicante/Alacant	5,802	342.4
11	San Miguel de Salinas	Alicante/Alacant	2,191	329.0
12	Albanchez	Almería	240	326.5
13	Llíber	Alicante/Alacant	310	320.6
14	Zurgena	Almería	926	318.0
15	Murla	Alicante/Alacant	162	300.0
16	Mojácar	Almería	2,213	294.0
17	Orba	Alicante/Alacant	673	286.6
18	Alcaucín	Málaga	683	274.6
19	Tormos	Alicante/Alacant	88	265.1
20	Benijófar	Alicante/Alacant	903	263.5
21	Gallardos, Los	Almería	778	260.1
22	Viñuela	Málaga	537	255.0
23	Comares	Málaga	313	237.1
24	Cómpeta	Málaga	884	231.8
25	Parcent	Alicante/Alacant	225	225.7
26	Canillas de Albaida	Málaga	176	221.1
27	Benahavís	Málaga	1,880	214.5
28	Turre	Almería	870	213.9
29	Benidoleig	Alicante/Alacant	259	210.2
30	Bolulla	Alicante/Alacant	83	201.0
31	Cantoria	Almería	710	201.0
32	Atzúbia, l'	Alicante/Alacant	121	196.4
33	Zarra	Valencia/València	72	194.6
34	Sagra	Alicante/Alacant	84	193.1
35	Teulada	Alicante/Alacant	2,285	191.3
36	Ràfol d'Almúnia, el	Alicante/Alacant	138	188.8
37	Fondó de les Neus, el/Hondón de las Nieves	Alicante/Alacant	501	186.7
38	Sedella	Málaga	111	185.6
39	Relleu	Alicante/Alacant	214	182.8
40	Oria	Almería	399	180.4
41	Cútar	Málaga	106	179.7
42	Árchez	Málaga	71	179.3
43	Xaló	Alicante/Alacant	522	178.1
44	Frigiliana	Málaga	564	171.9
45	Montesinos, Los	Alicante/Alacant	891	170.8
46	Mollina	Málaga	879	163.5
47	Formentera del Segura	Alicante/Alacant	725	163.1
48	Galera	Granada	178	159.5
49	Antigua	Palmas, Las	2,052	158.6
50	Teresa de Cofrentes	Valencia/València	97	157.7

Source: Spainability Origins Map, INE Padrón Continuo — nationality, 1 Jan 2022 · 2,353 municipalities in this layer's source table; top 50 shown

Cite this map

Source: the Spainability Origins Map, derived from Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) Padrón Continuo municipal register — nationality, 1 January 2022. UK nationals layer: https://spainability.com/where-british-people-live-in-spain/. Full methodology: https://spainability.com/methodology/.

Quote figures as UK nationals (nationality, 2022 register). Read the full methodology and caveats.

How to read this map — honestly

We count UK nationals on the register, not people born in the UK.

Nationality is not birth country. Spain's Padrón Continuo measures passport nationality, so our 269,861 figure is a citizen-on-the-register count for 2022 — a different measure and vintage from the birth-country census layers (U.S. / Dutch / Swedish). This is passport nationality on the municipal register (Padrón Continuo), not country of birth. A UK national born in Spain counts; a UK-born person who holds only Spanish nationality does not. The vintage is 1 January 2022 — the last all-town municipal nationality release — so treat the pattern as directional, not current-week accurate.

Partial geography. Municipal nationality figures exist only for the 19 coastal, island, Madrid and Galicia provinces where Brits concentrate — 2,379 of Spain's 8,132 municipalities, together more than 90% of all UK residents. Provinces outside that set are blank on the map (not zero).

Read the full methodology and caveats →

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