Romanians now biggest expat group in spain

Photo: FlissPhil

Spain has always been a popular place for Brits to buy holiday homes and, eventually, retire. Despite the famous relationship between the UK and its European cousin, though, the biggest group of expats in the country are now Romanians.

Out of the 4.9 million foreign nationals now living in Spain, official figures reveal that 19 per cent are Romanian, followed by 16 per cent of them from Morocca. Just six per cent are British.

The changing profile of foreign residents in Spain is also reflected in the country's most common expat names: they are now Mohamed and Fatima, according to the official figures. Indeed, there are 40,658 Mohameds and 18,492 Fatimas, reports The Local. The number of Mohameds, though, is actually far greater, as there are multiple ways to spell the name, from Algerian to Moroccan.

The top 50 expat names include names from Pakistan, Senegal, Italy and the UK.