Mr Grumpy

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By Mr Grumpy - Sat 29th Jun 2013

 

“Exodus : Movement of Jah People” : Wise words indeed spoken by the great prophet, Sir Robert of Marley.

One might surmise that he was talking about the emancipation of his people – or even referring to the original Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. The concept could as easily apply to modern day Spain.

Last week Spain’s National Institute of Random Bullshit (INE) confirmed that the net population of Spain – the difference between those moving to and moving from the country - fell by 114’000 last year alone.

Apparently, whilst 314’358 people moved to Spain, some 476’748 left the country – 417’023 being Foreign Residents.

With common thinking holding that there are currently some 5.5 Million Foreign Nationals / Expats being resident in Spain, this represents a (net) loss of 2% of all Foreign Nationals during 2012. This assuming that the 314’358 coming to the country were not Spanish Nationals returning home from overseas.

But personally I was more interested in what the National Institute of made-up Statistics didn’t report.

What I was really interested in knowing was a breakdown in the number of EU and Non-EU Nationals who had chosen to move to or from Spain.

My point being this : To what extent has the Euro, the Spanish Property Market and recent changes to the Eligibility of Non-EU Nationals to gain Spanish Residency influenced the exodus or influx of foreigners. In short, I am guessing that the majority of Foreigners leaving Spain were EU Nationals, whilst the majority of those arriving would be Non-EU Nationals ?

Whilst the late 1990s and early 2000s saw the arrival of (Mainly EU) Foreigners swell the population by around 20%, can it be assumed that Spain’s percentage of Foreigners will remain roughly the same over coming years – just that the EU / Non-EU ration will be different.

Bienvenido to the Russians, Chinese and Indians ?

* Spanish Expat Numbers Shrink.