Costa Blanca Population

Costa Blanca population - Main tourist resorts (in approximated figures, 2006/2007):

Alicante has a population of e 320.000 residents with 12% foreigners. The population of Alicante together with the nearer area (San Vicente del Raspeig, San Juan de Alicante, Muchamiel y Campello) is 440.000. In the average around 12% are foreigners. The metropolitan area Alicante-Elche (220.000 residents) with Santa Pola and Crevillent counts 750.000 residents and around 9% are foreigners. The area Murcia-Orihuela-Torrevieja counts approximately 700.000 residents; the average percentage of foreigners are 35% (Cartagena and La Manga Mar Menor not included). The population of Cartagena is 211.300; 28.500 are foreigners from which 8600 live in Cartagena, 1200 in Algar, 4800 in San Antonio Abad, 2600 in El Plan; other villages have up to 1000 foreigners each. The majority held the 12.075 Moroccans, the 4385 Ecuadorians and the 2794 British; the rest of the villages contains many other nationalities.

Costa Blanca – Main tourist resorts:

Some figures showing the development of the population:

The whole area of La Vega Baja (South of Alicante) has quintupled since 1996 with 11.000 residents and now in January 2008 with 94.006 residents. San Fulgencio has grown 266%, from 2.888 residents in 1996 to 10.583 in the year 2007. In San Fulgencio live today 5.311 British people. Torrevieja has 58.008 residents more today than in 1996. Actually this town of salt-industry has today 94.006 residents, three times more than 1996. Alcoy has today 60.700 residents, 221 less than in 1996. That means: there are rather little foreigners living. It’s not a place attracting cosmopolitan and intercultural people to live there.

Also the Marina Baja and Marina Alta (the North of the Costa Blanca) have grown from 1996 to 2007: Benidorm from 50.040 to 69.058, Dénia from 27.469 to 42.704, Jávea from 21.393 to 29.923, Calpe from 14.216 to 27.768, La Nucía from 7.010 to 15.519, and Villajoyosa from 22.866 to 30.550.

The locations around Alicante have grown as well during this period: San Vicente del Raspeig from 34.986 to 49.341), Mutxamel from 12.779 to 20.364, Sant Joan de Alicante from 16.008 to 20.907, and Campello from 15.200 a 25.055. Santa Pola has grown from 17.099 residents (1996) to 29.221 residents (2007).

Alicante and Elche have significantly increased their population: Alicante 17%, from 274.577 to 322.673 residents, and Elche 16% from 191.660 to 222.422. Every 5 years live 300’000 more people in the Province of Alicante.

In the whole Province of Alicante live 1.825.264 people from which 392.907 are foreigners (21,5%). In 1996 there have lived 69.985 foreigners (5,1% of the whole population). In categories of nationalities: the biggest group of foreigners are the British with 109.429 people, followed by the Germans with 33.462 people, then by 26.143 Moroccans, 22.934 Ecuadorians, 21.686 Romanian, 18.778 Colombians, 10.637 Argentines, 9.607 French people, (9.360) Bulgarians, and 5.380 Chinese people. 2008 in Alicante live 4.134 Colombians, in Elche 4.451 Rumanians, in Torrevieja 11.636 British people, and in Dénia 2619 Germans.

The percentage of international retired people are for example in Villajoyoisa  23% and in Calpe 42%. Most retired people in the province of Alicante are Europeans.  More than one third of the German foreigners residing in the province of Alicante are over 65; just like more than 25% of the Dutch, British and French are over 65.

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