Over 67,000 foreigners registered to vote in local elections in Catalonia, down 2.9% on 2019

A total of 67,379 non-Spanish nationals will be voting in the upcoming May 28 local elections in Catalonia, exactly 2.9% or 2,399 fewer than in 2019 according to data from Spain's statistics institute (INE). 

This slight drop could be attributed, in part, to the fact that the pandemic put an end to a 6-year period of growth in immigration. 

2023 is also the first "normal" election in years and therefore overall turnout is expected to be lower than in 2019, Pompeu Fabra University political science professor Ignacio Lago argued in a recent interview with Catalan News. 

According to him, in 2019 the question of independence was still taking center stage, mobilizing many Catalan and foreign voters alike - the EU elections taking place at the same time could have helped drive voter numbers up even more.    

Where are foreign voters from?

A quarter of all foreign nationals who have registered to vote in the 2023 local elections originally hail from Italy, 20% are Romanian and 16% are French.

These were also the top three nationalities of foreign voters in 2019, though those from Italy have experienced a notable 11% increase over this period from 14,983 four years ago to 16,666 now. 

Europeans make up over 95% of the foreign electorate, up from 93.77% four years ago. And while the top ten countries of origin of foreign voters are once again all European - Italy, Romania, France, Germany, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, and Bulgaria, with the last two switching spots in 2019 - the ten most populous migrant communities that have the right to vote include four South American countries: Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. 

According to Catalonia's Idescat statistics institute, Italians made up barely over 6% of the entire foreign population across the territory on January 1, 2022, with Romanians accounting for 6.8% and the French slightly more than 3% - Moroccans, by far the biggest group of foreign nationals in Catalonia, do not have the right to vote.

This means that while there are more Colombians in Catalonia (4.31% of the foreign population) than French residents, the French registered to vote in significantly higher numbers, outnumbering Columbian voters by over 9 to 1. 

Voters from UK and South America down 45%

The overall number of people registered to vote from each country has more or less remained stable since 2019 except for those from the United Kingdom and the six South American countries with voting rights - Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Paraguay - which experienced a 45% drop.

The UK specifically saw a 50% decrease from 5,792 to 2,881 voters following the country's departure from the EU.

"Brits aren't as interested in European politics after Brexit," Lago said. 

The first non-European country on the list is Colombia, in 12th position with 585 voters, 38% fewer than in 2019, while Bolivia in 14th place with 474 voters lost 53%, Ecuador in 15th place with 454 voters lost 38%, Peru in 16th place with 444 voters lost 39%, Paraguay in 20th place with 337 voters lost 19%, and Chile in 23rd place with 295 voters lost 26% of them in four years. 

On the other hand, those who have gained voters are mainly in the European Union, such as Hungary (+19%), Ireland (+17%), Latvia (+17%), or Lithuania (+13%). 

Where do they live?

Three in five foreign voters live in the Barcelona area, Catalonia's most populous region, while about 1 in 5 live in Girona. Slightly over 1 in 10 live in the southern Tarragona area and a mere 6% live in Lleida.

Although the number of foreign residents registered to vote decreased in all Catalan provinces in 2023 compared to 2019 - except for Lleida, where it grew by 1% - their distribution across Catalonia has remained the same. 

Who can vote? 

In addition to all Spanish nationals over the age of 18, adult residents from the EU and 13 countries with voting agreements with Spain (Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Iceland, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, South Korea, Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom) can have their say in local elections. Around 1 million adults will not be able to vote on May 28.

According to Idescat, there were 17 Trinidad and Tobagians living in Catalonia on January 1, 2022, and while adult residents from this Caribbean nation do have the right to vote in local elections, none of them have registered to do so. 

Adults residents from the EU can also vote in European elections in Catalonia, but only Spanish nationals can vote in Catalan and Spanish elections.