Spanish population drops for first time in 17 years thanks to foreigners' exodus

SPAIN The registered population of Spain totals 47,059,533 inhabitants, which is 205,788 less than in 2012, and attributable to a 3.8% drop in the number of registered foreigners. This is the first time the population has dropped since 1996, the first year official statistics were published. The number of registered foreigners came down by 216,125 (that 3.8%) through 2012, and now total 5,520,133, while the number of Spanish-born was up by 10,337 (or 0.02%). This according to the Nastional Statistic Institute's Continuous Register, which also says that 11.7% of all people registered in Spain are foreigners, and 2.4 million come from the European Union.>>>

Too many cars? No parking? Depends on where you live

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Prov. of CÁDIZ / Campo de Gibraltar We all want to park outside our front door. In some places we can, in others, parking is a nightmare: the tricky balance between the number of cars in any given location and the number of parking spaces is one of the most difficult, as any town planning expert or councillor will tell you. In any case, the Economy Annual 2012, published by La Caixa, has come up with some interesting figures on the subject regarding the 124,573 cars registered in the Campo in 2011.>>>PLEASE BE AWARE THAT SOON YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ITEM UNLESS YOU SUBSCRIBE. Subscription information will be available soon.>>>

A break-up every four minutes

SPAIN There is a divorce every four minutes in this country, according to a recent study by the Family Policy Institute using data from the Judiciary. The information reveals that there were 127,633 divorces in 2010, 3,050 more than in the previous year. The total implies that 350 marrieges broke per day, that is, one every 4.1 minutes. In fact, the name used is 'ruptures', or break-ups, the vast majority (93.64%) of which were divorces, plus 6.24% separations (7,960) and o.13% annullments (160).  Four of every ten break-ups (40.23%) were contentious, or 'conflictive'.  These figures do not include what used to be known in the UK as common-law marriages.

Spaniards work more than Germans, says OECD report

SPAIN The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has put an end to a mythhe about Spain, according to much of the media on this subject. Spain is not all about sun, beach and fiesta, says (in other words) the OECD's Society at a Glance report for 2011. This country is placed 13th on the list of most hours worked (it says nothing about efficiency), ahead of Germany and Denmark but behind Japan, which heads it. The average time spent working for pay or studying in Spain is 4.6 hours a day (276 minutes), while in Germany they spend 19% less, or 232 minutes, while in Denmark the figure is 225 minutes, or 22.6% less. The list is topped by the Japanese, who work or study for 376 minutes (6.2 hours) each day. followed by the South Koreans (348 mins) and the Mexicans (342 mins), which last destroys another myth. Conversely,>

Birth rate drops and first-time mothers' age increases

SPAIN - The country's birth rate showed a steady increase for a decade, until 2009, when it began to come down, also steadily. The Instituto Nacional deEstadística (INE), or National Statistics Institute's latest figures confirm the trend: there were a total of 235,373 births registered in 2010, 3.2% less than the previous year. This is the result of a combination of a decrease in fecundity and a a progressive lowering of the age of fertility in women. The  average age of children per woman is down to 1.38, according to the INE. Women who live in Spain>

944 Britons arrested on drugs charges

An article in The Gibraltar Chronicle last week reported on a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office report that said there 944 Brritons arrested on drugs charges from April 2009 to Mach 2010. 'Drugs contributed to more than a third of total arrests of Britons in France and more than a quarter in Ireland, Italy and Thailand,' the article continued, adding: 'Including natural causes, accidents and unlawful killings, there were 5,930 reported deaths of UK citizens abroad in 2009/10. Of these, 1,786 occurred in Spain, which also saw the highest number of arrests and detentions of UK nationals as well as the highest number of cases where Britons needed hospital treatment.' Read the whole article in The Gibraltar Chronicle.

10% of Campo population is foreign

(Agencies) The population of the Campo de Gibraltar continues to grow, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE, National Statistics Institute). Figures for 2009 show that there are 263,749 inhabitants, an increase of 0.90% from 2008. This represents 2,371 new residents, of which 1,083 are foreigners - that is 45.6% of all newcomers to the area. All the area's municipalities registered an increase in foreign population, as follows:>