Where Immigration Has Grown Most: Comarques of Catalonia
A comarca with a large foreign-born population today may have been that way for decades, while a very local one may be changing fast. This ranking measures change, not level: how many percentage points the share of residents born outside Spain rose between 2007 and 2022, from the municipal register. Neither end is better: some people value the stability of a comarca that changes little, others want the dynamism of one that is transforming.
42 of 43 comarques compared.
Interactive map
| # | Comarca | Province | Change 2007–2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelonès | Barcelona | +10.8 pp |
| 2 | Garrotxa | Girona | +8.4 pp |
| 3 | Segrià | Lleida | +8.0 pp |
| 4 | Segarra | Lleida | +7.8 pp |
| 5 | Osona | Barcelona | +7.0 pp |
| 6 | Urgell | Lleida | +6.9 pp |
| 7 | Noguera | Lleida | +6.5 pp |
| 8 | Pallars Jussà | Lleida | +6.5 pp |
| 9 | Gironès | Girona | +6.2 pp |
| 10 | Bages | Barcelona | +5.8 pp |
| 11 | Garrigues | Lleida | +5.8 pp |
| 12 | Pla d'Urgell | Lleida | +5.5 pp |
| 13 | Alt Urgell | Lleida | +5.3 pp |
| 14 | Ripollès | Girona | +5.2 pp |
| 15 | Ribera d'Ebre | Tarragona | +4.9 pp |
| 16 | Pla de l'Estany | Girona | +4.8 pp |
| 17 | Alt Empordà | Girona | +4.8 pp |
| 18 | Vallès Occidental | Barcelona | +4.8 pp |
| 19 | Baix Llobregat | Barcelona | +4.7 pp |
| 20 | Berguedà | Barcelona | +4.6 pp |
| 21 | Alt Camp | Tarragona | +4.5 pp |
| 22 | Baix Empordà | Girona | +4.5 pp |
| 23 | Tarragonès | Tarragona | +4.4 pp |
| 24 | Selva | Girona | +4.4 pp |
| 25 | Baix Penedès | Tarragona | +4.3 pp |
| 26 | Garraf | Barcelona | +4.2 pp |
| 27 | Moianès | Barcelona | +4.1 pp |
| 28 | Maresme | Barcelona | +3.9 pp |
| 29 | Anoia | Barcelona | +3.7 pp |
| 30 | Priorat | Tarragona | +3.5 pp |
| 31 | Vallès Oriental | Barcelona | +3.1 pp |
| 32 | Terra Alta | Tarragona | +3.1 pp |
| 33 | Alt Penedès | Barcelona | +2.9 pp |
| 34 | Baix Ebre | Tarragona | +2.8 pp |
| 35 | Conca de Barberà | Tarragona | +2.7 pp |
| 36 | Aran | Lleida | +2.6 pp |
| 37 | Baix Camp | Tarragona | +2.5 pp |
| 38 | Cerdanya | Mixed | +2.4 pp |
| 39 | Solsonès | Lleida | +2.3 pp |
| 40 | Montsià | Tarragona | +1.1 pp |
| 41 | Alta Ribagorça | Lleida | +0.4 pp |
| 42 | Pallars Sobirà | Lleida | +0.2 pp |
Source: Idescat municipal register (PMH) — residents by country of birth, 2007 and 2022 editions. 42/43 comarques with both editions available. Birthplace is not nationality or ethnicity.
Methodology
The change is computed from the municipal register (Idescat PMH, residents by country of birth): the share of residents born outside Spain in 2022 minus the same share in 2007, in percentage points. It measures where the origin composition has shifted most over fifteen years — not where the foreign-born population is largest today (that is the most-international ranking, which orders the map very differently). Birthplace is not nationality or ethnicity: many foreign-born residents have naturalised, and their children born here do not appear. It is a descriptive indicator with no good/bad connotation, and the map uses a neutral single-hue scale (light = less change, dark = more). Lluçanès (created 2023) has no historical series and is excluded.