In 2016, net migration of foreign nationals rose to 112 700 from 40 800 a year earlier. Most of this increase is explained by a 22% rise in immigration, while emigration declined by 3%. With an inflow of 354 000 people, immigration reached its highest level since 2009. Moroccans were the leading nationality of immigrants in 2016, with an inflow of 30 000 and a 25% increase compared to 2015. They were followed closely by Romanians (29 000, as in the previous year). Colombians and Venezuelans were the two main net migration nationalities, with a positive balance of 16 000 each. Net migration of Romanians was negative in 2016 (-24 000). Spain remained the main European destination for UK citizens. As of January 2016, there were close to 300 000 recorded British residents in Spain, about one third of all British residents in the European Union.
Emigration of Spanish nationals in 2016 declined for the first time in more than a decade, to 86 000. As in the previous year, the main destinations, which accounted for 45% of the total, were the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the United States.
Improving economic conditions led to an increase in immigration of Spanish nationals: 62 000 arrived in 2016, compared to 52 000 the previous year. Although net migration of Spanish nationals remained negative in 2016 (-27 200), this was lower than in 2015 (-42 500).
The economic recovery was also visible in improved labour market outcomes for immigrants. Although the unemployment rate of foreigners remained high, at almost 25% in the last quarter of 2016, this was 3.7 percentage points lower than in the previous year. This decline was steeper than the decline for Spanish nationals (2 percentage points, to 18% in the last quarter of 2016).
The total number of first permits granted to foreigners from non-EU countries increased from 193 000 in 2015 to 211 000 in 2016. Most of the increase occurred in the family category, which represented more than 50% of all first permits, while there was a decline in permits issued for economic reasons.
In the first half of 2016, 93 000 naturalisations through residence were granted, up from 78 000 in the same period of 2015. Yet, the overall data show a reduction in naturalisations each year. The main nationalities of origin were Morocco, Bolivia, Colombia and Ecuador, which accounted for about half of the total.
There was an increase in irregular border crossings in 2016 and again in 2017, compared to previous periods. This was mostly due to increased arrivals by sea through the Strait of Gibraltar, while crossings to the Canary Islands decreased. According to the Ministry of Interior, boat landings amounted to 22 100 persons in 2017, compared with 8 200 in 2016. Migration pressure is a challenge for Spain; therefore, there is a continuation of the close co-operation on combatting irregular migration with countries of origin and transit, such as Morocco, Senegal and Mauritania.
There was a 6.6% increase in asylum applications in 2016 to 15 600. Preliminary data for 2017 show an even larger increase to approximately 31 700, the highest on record. There was a sharp increase in applications from Venezuelans, from 585 in 2015 to 3 960 in 2016 and to more than 10 600 in 2017. The second largest group in 2016 and 2017 was Syrians (6 975 and 4 300 respectively). Spain granted international protection to 6 900 persons in 2016 (in most cases, subsidiary protection), a strong increase compared to the previous year (1 000); preliminary data indicate that the 2017 figure should be lower. In addition, Spain took part in the EU relocation and resettlement programmes. By September 2017, about 1 300 asylum seekers had been relocated from Greece and Italy to Spain, due to the difficulties of implementing this new process. Spain also committed to resettle about 1 400 refugees from countries neighbouring Syria and had reached about half of this target by September 2017. The increase in asylum applications in Spain has led to the restructuring of the asylum system to manage larger numbers of applications and to increase the capacity of the reception system.
Due to the lack of parliamentary majority during most of 2016, no major legal changes were implemented. A number of measures to attract highly skilled immigrants, in particular investors and entrepreneurs, have recently been taken. Therefore, migrants to Spain have higher qualifications than in earlier years. In addition, a “Rising Start-up Spain” pilot project was launched in 2016. This project offered foreign entrepreneurs and start-ups who promote entrepreneurial activity with a scalable and innovative project: EUR 10 000, a free office space in Madrid or Barcelona and specialist mentoring to support the financing process and other services. The second call for this scheme, which received a total of 155 applications in its first edition, was considered a success.
