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Girona: Immigration Slows Aging in Spain

A Funcas report highlights the province as one of those most benefiting from foreign population influx to balance demographics.

Generic image of demographic diversity in a Mediterranean landscape.
IA

Generic image of demographic diversity in a Mediterranean landscape.

The province of Girona is positioned as a key territory in Spain where immigration plays a fundamental role in slowing down population aging, according to a recent Funcas report.

A study by the private foundation Funcas identifies Girona as one of the Spanish provinces where the population of immigrant origin has a more significant demographic weight. This presence helps maintain relatively lower aging levels compared to other regions in the country, such as Almeria, the Balearic Islands, Alicante, or Madrid.
Data from the Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya (Idescat) confirm this trend, indicating that at the beginning of 2025, there were 181,899 foreign residents in the Girona counties, representing 21.9% of the total population. Municipalities like Castelló d’Empúries (over 45% foreigners), Lloret de Mar (around 38.5%), Salt (37%), and Roses (over 30%) show particularly high percentages.
Although immigration helps sustain the population and mitigate aging, the report warns that it is not a definitive solution to low birth rates. In Girona, births have decreased by 35% between 2009 and 2024, affecting both the native and foreign-born populations. Nevertheless, births to foreign mothers continue to represent approximately four out of ten.
Funcas highlights that immigration has been crucial for demographic growth in Spain over the last two decades, but its retention capacity is limited, with more than half of the migrants who arrived since 2002 no longer residing in the country. This implies the need for constant migratory flows to sustain the population.
The study also questions immigration's ability to reverse low fertility rates. Nationally, births have significantly decreased, and migrant women tend to adapt to the Spanish low birth rate regime. Furthermore, the rejuvenating potential of immigration is limited by the progressive aging of migrants from earlier waves and the increase in older individuals among new arrivals.
In conclusion, the report emphasizes that demographic policies cannot rely solely on the arrival of foreign population. In Girona, while immigration has driven growth and maintained a less aged demographic structure, birth rate trends indicate the need to address other factors as well.

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