The regularisation process is the seventh in the past 40 years (see Figure 1). The foreign-born population surpassed 10 million in 2025 for the first time, just over 20% of the total population. More than two million Spaniards emigrated between 1960 and 1973. Early school leavers, Spaniards and foreigners2016 2018 2020 2022 2025 Spaniards (1) 16.4 15.3 13.6 11.3 9.8 Foreigners 37.6 35.1 32.5 31.0 30.7 Note: (1) Including nationalised Spaniards. The monetary poverty risk rate of non-EU foreigners was 47.8% in 2024, four times higher than the rate for Spaniards.

Source: New York Times March 10, 2026 10:37 UTC