Germans in Spain
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 137,089 (2024) | |
| Languages | |
| Spanish and German | |
| Religion | |
| Catholicism · Lutheranism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Germans |
Germans in Spain are people of German origin or German citizenship living in Spain. At the beginning of 2025, according to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, more than 131,800 German citizens lived in Spain; after Switzerland and Austria, Spain was one of the most important European destination countries for German emigrants.[1] According to Spanish data, German citizens was one of the largest foreign groups in Spain with 137,089 people (2024).[2] The German population is concentrated particularly in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean coast, Andalusia, and the major economic centres of Madrid and Barcelona.
History
[edit]
An early settlement of German-speaking people in Spain took place in the 18th century as part of the so-called Nuevas Poblaciones de Sierra Morena y Andalucía (New Settlements of the Sierra Morena and Andalusia). The colonization project, promoted by King Charles III, was intended to develop sparsely populated areas in the Sierra Morena and Andalusia, secure traffic between Madrid and Andalusia, and promote agricultural production. Between 1767 and 1769, around 8,000 settlers from Central Europe came to Spain, including Germans, Swiss, Austrians, Dutch, Italians and French. Johann Kaspar Thürriegel recruited people from the Holy Roman Empire for this purpose in order to establish model settlements based on the values of the Enlightenment.[3] Places where these migrants settled included La Carolina, La Carlota, Fuente Palmera, Guarromán, Aldeaquemada, Santa Elena and La Luisiana.[4] In the long term, however, these settlements did not become German-speaking enclaves; the descendants of the colonists were largely absorbed into the Spanish majority population.[3]
No large-scale German mass immigration to Spain developed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A permanent institutional German cultural life emerged mainly in places where German merchants, diplomats, teachers and clergy lived. The German School Las Palmas de Gran Canaria traces its origins to 1920, when German parents on Gran Canaria founded a school with German teachers.[5] Spain's fascist regime also welcomed several hundred nazis escaping the collapse of the third reich.[6]
After the Second World War, the character of the German presence in Spain changed significantly, as tourism steadily intensified contact with Spain. The economic rise of the Federal Republic of Germany, improved transport connections and the expansion of tourist infrastructure along the Mediterranean coast, in the Balearic Islands and in the Canary Islands facilitated longer stays and later relocations.
Since Spain's accession to the European Communities in 1986 and the later introduction of European Union citizenship, the settlement of German citizens in Spain has increased. As EU citizens, Germans could settle in Spain comparatively easily, purchase property there, establish businesses or spend their retirement there. The group therefore differs from classical labour migrant groups in the country, such as Moroccans or Romanians, because a considerable proportion of Germans in Spain did not emigrate out of economic necessity, but chose Spain for reasons of climate, quality of life, retirement, self-employment or a transnational lifestyle.[7][8]
Demographics
[edit]| Rank | Region | Number |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Canary Islands |
25,696 |
| 2 |  Catalonia |
19,717 |
| 3 |  Valencian Community |
19,356 |
| 4 |  Balearic Islands |
18,979 |
| 5 |  Andalusia |
16,829 |
| 6 |  Madrid |
8,252 |
| 7 |  Murcia |
1,654 |
| 8 |  Basque Country |
1,191 |
| 9 |  Galicia |
1,209 |
| 10 |  Castile and León |
749 |
| Rest of Spain | 2,490 | |
| Gesamt | 116,122 |
On 1 January 2024, the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadística registered 137,089 residents with German citizenship; this corresponded to 2.1 percent of Spain's foreign population.[10] The Federal Statistical Office of Germany reported more than 131,800 German citizens resident in Spain at the beginning of 2025. Differences between such figures may result from different survey dates, extrapolation methods and registration procedures. The number of German citizens in Spain fluctuated in the 21st century. According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, it declined over several years before rising again from 2022 onwards. The more than 131,800 German citizens in Spain were around 3,800 people, or 3.0 percent, more than in the previous year, but around 3,000 fewer than ten years earlier.[11]
The regional distribution is characterized by a strong concentration in areas of touristic and economic importance. Centres include the Balearic Islands, especially Mallorca, the Canary Islands, the Valencian Community with the Costa Blanca, Andalusia with the Costa del Sol, as well as Catalonia and the Community of Madrid. Official Spanish statistics have for years shown an above-average presence in these coastal and island regions.[9]
A notable feature of the German population in Spain is the relatively high proportion of older people. This is connected to Spain's growing importance since the 1970s as a retirement and second-home destination. Studies on German retirement migration often describe German seniors in Spain not as fully emigrated migrants, but as a transnationally mobile group that commutes between Germany and Spain, owns property in Spain or spends longer seasonal stays there.[12] Overall, more than a quarter of Germans in Spain are over the age of 65.[11] Alongside this older resident group, there are younger employees, self-employed people, entrepreneurs, employees of international companies, people working in tourism, students and families with children at German or international schools.
German cultural life
[edit]
German cultural life in Spain is based on schools, cultural institutes, church congregations, media, business organizations and local associations. German schools abroad play a central role. The Central Agency for German Schools Abroad supervises the German schools abroad recognized by the Federal Republic of Germany; Spain is one of the countries with a dense network of such institutions. Recognized German schools in Spain include the German schools in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, San Sebastián, Málaga, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife, as well as the Eurocampus Deutsche Schule auf Mallorca.[13] The German School Madrid describes itself as a bilingual encounter school with instruction in German and Spanish and with the German International Abitur as its educational objective.[14] According to its own information, the German School Las Palmas provides instruction from kindergarten to the Abitur and has around 800 pupils.[15]
In addition to schools, the Goethe-Institut branches in Madrid and Barcelona are important institutions for German cultural and language work. The Goethe-Institut Spain offers German courses, examinations, training for German teachers and cultural programmes, and cooperates with education ministries, training centres and other institutions in various Spanish regions.[16][17] Academic exchange is facilitated by the German Academic Exchange Service and the Erasmus Programme. Spain is very popular among German international students and is the leading destination country, with a total of 7,500 German students in Spain.[18]
German-language media are particularly widespread in regions with many German residents. The Mallorca Zeitung, a German-language weekly newspaper based in Palma, has been published on Mallorca since 2000 and is aimed at German-speaking residents, holidaymakers and people interested in Spain.[19] On the Costa Blanca and in other coastal regions, the Costa Nachrichten and Costa Blanca Nachrichten report on local and Spain-wide topics for a German-speaking audience.[20][21]
Churches and social institutions are also part of German cultural life. Madrid has a German-speaking Protestant congregation whose origins date back to 1903.[22] A particularly lively German cultural life exists on the island of Mallorca, which is often jokingly referred to as Germany's "17th federal state".[23] This includes, among other things, a Protestant congregation, a German-language Masonic lodge and the AAM-Associació Alemanya i Mallorquina, which promotes exchange between the German diaspora and the local population.[24]
Notable Germans in Spain
[edit]
Among the best-known Spanish people of German origin and Germans who settled in Spain are:
- Bartholomäus Welser the Elder (1484–1561), Augsburg merchant and banker whose trading house received rights from Emperor Charles V to colonize the province of Venezuela
- Ambrosius Ehinger (c. 1500–1533), German conquistador and first governor of the Welser colony in Venezuela
- Nikolaus Federmann (c. 1505–1542), German conquistador in Spanish colonial service in Venezuela and New Granada
- Georg Hohermuth von Speyer (c. 1500–1540), German conquistador and governor of the Welser colony in Venezuela
- Philipp von Hutten (1505–1546), German conquistador and governor in Venezuela
- Ulrich Schmidl (c. 1510–1579), German landsknecht and chronicler, participant in the Spanish expedition to the Río de la Plata
- Maria Amalia of Saxony (1724–1760), Saxon princess and queen of Spain
- Anton Raphael Mengs (1728–1779), German-Bohemian painter and court painter to King Charles III of Spain
- Johann Nikolaus Böhl von Faber (1770–1836), German merchant, Hispanist and literary theorist in Spain
- Andreas Daniel Berthold von Schepeler (1780–1849), German officer who entered Spanish service during the Peninsular War and later wrote as a historian on Spain
- Wilhelm von Rahden (1793–1860), Prussian officer and writer who fought on the Carlist side in the First Carlist War
- Cecilia Böhl de Faber (1796–1877), Spanish writer of German-Irish origin, known under the pseudonym Fernán Caballero
- Felix Lichnowsky (1814–1848), German nobleman, politician and officer in the First Carlist War
- Valeriano Weyler (1838–1930), Spanish general of Prussian descent and governor-general in Cuba
- Engelbert Humperdinck (1854–1921), German composer, temporarily active as a teacher in Barcelona
- Gerda Taro (1910–1937), German photographer active in Spain during the Spanish Civil War
- Hans Helfritz (1902–1995), German composer, musicologist and photographer who lived for a time on Ibiza
- Werner Fuetterer (1907–1991), German actor who worked in Spain
- Ludwig Vorgrimler (1912–1983), German engineer and weapons designer who moved to Spain
- Otto Ernst Remer (1912–1997), German officer and far-right activist who lived in Spain for an extended period
- Eberhard Schlotter (1921–2014), German painter and graphic artist who lived in Spain for many years
- Bert Kaempfert (1923–1980), German orchestra leader, arranger and composer who died on Mallorca
- Jupp Heynckes (born 1945), German football player and manager who was active in Spain for many years
- Jutta Burggraf (1952–2010), German Roman Catholic theologian who taught in Spain
- Bernd Schuster (born 1959), German football player and manager who was active in Spain for many years
- Enrique Sánchez Lansch (born 1963), German-Spanish film director
- Daniela Katzenberger (born 1986), German television personality and entrepreneur who lived on Mallorca for a time
References
[edit]- ↑ "Deutsche mit Wohnsitz im europäischen Ausland" (in German). Statistisches Bundesamt. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Censo Anual de Población. 1 de enero de 2024. Primeros resultados" (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- 1 2 Veith, Nicola. "Die Auswanderung nach Spanien 1767–1769". regionalgeschichte.net (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ Sánchez-Montes Medina, Gonzalo (1993). "Las Nuevas Poblaciones de Carlos III y la colonización de Sierra Morena" (PDF). Chronica Nova (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Die Deutsche Schule Las Palmas – ein Zentrum der Begegnung" (in German). Auswärtiges Amt. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ Cerda, Paco. "Spain, a Nazi hideout". El Pais. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
- ↑ Kordel, Stefan (2013). "Lifestyle-Mobilitäten deutscher Senioren in Spanien. Das Beispiel der Gemeinde Torrox an der Costa del Sol" (PDF). Mitteilungen der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ Haas, Heiko (2015). "Neue Formen des Alter(n)s. Altersmigration deutscher Seniorinnen und Senioren nach Spanien" (PDF) (in German). Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Población extranjera por Nacionalidad, comunidades, Sexo y Año" (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Retrieved 2026-06-07.
- ↑ "Censo Anual de Población. 1 de enero de 2024. Primeros resultados" (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- 1 2 "Deutsche mit Wohnsitz im europäischen Ausland" (in German). Statistisches Bundesamt. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ Kordel, Stefan (2013). "Lifestyle-Mobilitäten deutscher Senioren in Spanien. Das Beispiel der Gemeinde Torrox an der Costa del Sol" (PDF). Mitteilungen der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Deutsche Auslandsschulen" (in German). Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Deutsche Schule Madrid" (in German). Deutsche Schulen Iberien. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Deutsche Schule Las Palmas de Gran Canaria" (in German). Deutsche Schule Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Deutschkurse in Spanien" (in German). Goethe-Institut Spanien. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Fortbildungen in Spanien" (in German). Goethe-Institut Spanien. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Beliebtes Studienland Spanien" (in German). 22 October 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Mallorca Zeitung" (in German). eurotopics. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Costa Nachrichten" (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Costa Blanca Nachrichten: el periódico y web en alemán con toda la información sobre España". El País (in Spanish). 14 May 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Deutschsprachige evangelische Gemeinde in Madrid". Spanien auf Deutsch (in German). Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Als Mallorca deutsch werden sollte". 4 July 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Anwaltskanzlei MENTH für Spanien - Fachkanzlei für Immobilienrecht und Erbrecht". Retrieved 7 June 2026.