German population of the Balearics has fallen by half

The principal reason for the decrease was the change to Spain's tax law in 2012. This led to people de-registering and to spending less than six months a year on the islands and in Spain. Pere Antoni Salvà, professor of human geography at the University of the Balearic Islands, has commented that "they are fiscally not here, but they continue to reside on the islands for much of the year". He estimated that in 2018 there were around 70,000 Germans "who come and go but have not sold their properties".

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The fall in the number of British citizens has been less dramatic. In 2012, there were 23,562; in December 2022 there were 19,211. The tax law affected the British, as it did Germans and other foreign nationals, but there has also been Brexit.

The most recent figures from Spain's National Statistics Institute indicate that there were 19,569 UK citizens in the Balearics in 2022, whereas there were 18,979 Germans. In 2022 alone, the registered UK population rose by more than 2,000.

Towards the end of the last century, the UK and Germany provided the largest foreign populations. The list is now headed by Moroccan citizens - 29,489 - followed by people from Argentina (27,965) and Colombia (24,342). When it comes to Europe, there are over 22,000 Italian citizens.