With just 795,513 people, Romanians were on January 1 this year, the largest immigrant community in Spain, as in previous years. However, they accounted for only 1.70 percent of the total population of 46.7 million people. Last year, the number of Romanians in Spain fell by almost 75,000. And if this trend continues, next year our countrymen could be surpassed by the Moroccan community, currently in second place with 771 000 people
The third place goes to the British with almost 300,000, whose number is also decreasing, followed by Ecuador and China. The total population of Spain was also reduced for the second year in a row, but only by 0.9 percent. The decrease in the number of foreigners in Spain and especially Romanians can have several causes, according to a sociologist at the University of Madrid, quoted by the newspaper El Pais
The persistent economic crisis makes many immigrants want to leave Spain, either to return home or, as Romanians do, to seek better conditions elsewhere.
It is also possible that some of the foreigners who have been in Spain for several years, have acquired nationality, the sociologist adds.