Expat exodus from Alicante province

The population of Alicante province shrank by 83,000 over the last year.

On January 1 this year there were 1,862,359 people living in the province compared with 1,945,642 on January 1, 2013.

Of these, 379,689 were foreign residents, almost 90,000 fewer than at the beginning of 2013 according to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).

The British community saw the greatest reduction, losing 30% of its residents and dwindling from 130,541 in 2013 to 91,287 this year.

There was also an increase in the number of German residents leaving Spain, with a current total of 21,441 compared with last year’s 35,916.

In contrast the number of Russian residents increased by 11% to 14,429.

The falling census of foreign residents did not come entirely as a surprise to the Sociology I department at Alicante University.  

There has been a slowdown in foreign arrivals since 2005 although last year’s sudden drop was less expected, said Professor Raquel Huete. 

“The British are not here only as tourists but also for financial motives,” Huete said.

Spain’s crisis, coupled to higher taxes and cutbacks in services now available in the province has also affected them, she claimed.