Almost half not born in the Balearics

PALMA
ALMOST half of the Balearic population was not born on the islands and one in every five was born in another country.
The Balearics is the region which has grown most during the last year (with the exception of Melilla), now having 2.8 percent more inhabitants than in 2006. Of the total, those born on the Spanish mainland and those born in other countries add up to 44.4 percent.

Of the 28'077 new residents recorded on the latest register of the Balearics, the majority, 77.23 percent, are foreigners according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics.

The total population has grown by 35.3 percent, but the foreign population has increased by 490 percent since January 1 1996, when there were 32'102 residents who were born in other countries.

Today there are 189'437, almost as many as the population of Ibiza and Minorca put together (113'908 and 88'434 inhabitants repectively).
There are nationalities which a decade ago were hardly noticeable on the islands and now have a large presence here.
This is the case with the Nigerians, of which there were just 12 in 1996. Now this has been multiplied by 180, to the 2'171 who live on the islands today.

This is the nationality which has increased most, but the Rumanians are not far behind, having gone from 61 in 1996 to 2'005 today.
Other nationalities which have greatly increased their presence on the islands are the Bulgarians (from 63 to 2'365) and the Polish (from 85 to 2'600).