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Population reduces the most along the Valencia Coast

With thousands of foreign residents, many of whom are elderly pensioners, living along the Mediterranean coast, it is only logical to think that if the population in Spain is being reduced, this is the area that would be hit first.

And that is exactly what has been happening since 2015, according to the Census of Residential Variations (EVR), which was published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) last week.

The fact that the population is ageing (there are now officially more deaths than births in Spain) and many foreign residents are returning back to their country of origin (this will probably multiply after the Brexit vote) or to Spain’s larger cities, has resulted in a change in the demographic map of Spain.

According to the study, the areas that lost the greatest number of residents in 2015 were the Levante coast, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León.

The municipality in which the population was reduced the most was Orihuela in the Alicante province, an area favoured by foreign residents of various nationalities. Last year, a total of 7,243 residents moved away from this area.

Orihuela was followed by Las Palmas (-6,685) and Adeje (-5,879), both on the Canary Islands, and Alicante (-4,446) and Jávea(-3,532). In fact, the Valencia Region is the region that has suffered the greatest population reduction in the last year.

Many of the people that left these areas either relocated abroad to another country or they moved inland. Some have left due to not being able to find work, whilst with regards to the older residents, it is typical for them to return to their own country of origin if their spouse passes away and they find themselves on their own here.

However, the situation is different in Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León. Many people moved to these areas during the economic crisis because they couldn’t find work and therefore didn’t have the money to stay living in the larger cities. Now that the economic crisis has ended, many young people are returning back to the cities as the possibility of finding work is much higher.

So, which regions are those foreign residents that aren’t leaving the country and the nationals that are moving to another region heading to? According to the INE, Madrid registered the greatest influx of population in 2015 (+38,155), followed byBarcelona in second place (+26,099).

Nevertheless, despite the fact that many young people in particular are moving to the big cities in search of work, this still doesn’t make up for the massive exodus of Spaniards who continue to leave Spain for other EU countries in a bid to improve their situation.