As of the end of 2025, there were 7,500,944 foreigners in Spain with valid residence permits, which is 4.5% more than a year earlier. These figures were published by the Permanent Immigration Observatory (OPI) under Spain’s Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration.
Of this number, 3,804,191 individuals held an EU or EFTA citizen registration certificate, 3,497,284 resided in the country with a residence permit under the general migration regime, and another 199,469 people were in Spain on a TIE card under the Brexit agreement for British nationals and their family members.
Among holders of EU registration certificates and related documents, the largest groups were citizens of Romania—1,136,518 people, Italy—514,054, and the United Kingdom—382,474. Together, these three nationalities accounted for 51% of this category of foreigners with residence permits.
In the segment of foreigners with residence permits outside the EU regime, the largest national groups, according to OPI, were citizens of Morocco, Colombia, and Argentina. At the same time, the total number of foreigners in this segment increased by 9% over the year, or by 288,253 people.
Separately, Spain updated its statistics on Ukrainians. According to OPI data, as of December 31, 2025, 338,576 Ukrainian citizens with valid residence permits were living in the country. The figure was published in January 2026 in a special report on Ukrainian citizens.
Thus, Spain continues to host one of the largest populations of foreign nationals with legal residency status in the EU, and Ukrainians remain one of the most prominent national groups within this demographic.
In 2025, the Spanish housing market reached its highest level since 2007: according to data from the Spanish Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, 752,098 home sales were completed in the country, which is 5% more than in 2024.
Foreign demand remains one of the key drivers of this growth. According to preliminary data from Spanish registrars, foreigners bought almost 97,300 houses and apartments in Spain in 2025, which was a new high and accounted for 13.8% of all transactions in the housing market. At the same time, according to notarial statistics for the first half of 2025, foreigners accounted for 71,155 transactions, or 19.3% of the total number of home sales during this period. Notaries separately note that the growth in 2025 was mainly driven by foreign residents, while purchases by non-residents declined slightly.
The main groups of foreign buyers in Spain are now primarily Europeans and people from countries with high migration to Spain itself. According to registrars’ data for the fourth quarter of 2025, the largest shares among foreign buyers were British (8.57%), German (6.67%), Dutch (5.91%), Moroccans (5.30%), French (5.28%), Romanians (5.17%), and Italians (4.76%). Notarial statistics for the first half of 2025 also show the UK leading the way with 5,731 transactions, followed by Morocco with 5,654 and Germany with 4,756.
Ukrainians also occupy a prominent place in this structure. According to data based on Spanish notarial statistics, in January-June 2025, Ukrainian citizens made 2,165 home purchases in Spain, which was a record for the entire series of observations. In the official Notariado review, Ukraine is also named among the countries that showed growth in the first half of 2025: the number of purchases by Ukrainians increased by 5% year-on-year. The average price paid by Ukrainian buyers was around EUR 1,832 per square meter.
Russians, on the contrary, are losing weight in the Spanish market. According to notaries, in the first half of 2025, home purchases by Russian citizens decreased by 17.4% compared to the same period in 2024, and Russians are no longer among the largest foreign groups in terms of the number of transactions. At the same time, Russians are still among the buyers with above-average purchase prices for foreigners.
Geographically, foreign demand is most noticeable on the coast and islands. According to registrars, the share of foreign buyers is particularly high in the Balearic Islands (32.8%), the Valencian Community (29.6%), the Canary Islands (24.5%), Murcia (22.8%), Catalonia (16.5%), and Andalusia (14%). Notaries also highlight Alicante, the Balearic Islands, Malaga, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife as the main areas of concentration for transactions with foreigners.
Thus, the Spanish housing market is currently being fuelled by two foreign flows: non-resident buyers, especially from Northern and Western Europe, and migrants who already live and work in Spain. According to notarial statistics, it is the second group that will be the main factor in maintaining record demand for housing in 2025.
The Tea&Food division of Biosphere Corporation, represented by the Graff and Ritz Barton brands, increased its production and sales by 2.5 times compared to the previous year, according to the company’s press service.
According to the report, sales volume increased from 1.4 million packs in 2024 to 3.5 million packs in 2025. Monthly turnover at the end of the year exceeded UAH 35 million, and the Graff brand entered the top 4 tea brands in Ukraine in terms of sales volume in retail chains. The company’s share of the domestic tea market is estimated at 5%.
“The growth of our tea business was driven by a strong marketing strategy and the development of relationships with major retail chains. The next step in our development is international expansion,” said Andriy Zdesenko, founder and CEO of Biosphere Corporation.
CupSoul CEO Iryna Broslavtseva emphasized the brand’s readiness to compete in foreign markets.
“The quality of our tea has been recognized not only by Ukrainian consumers, but also by numerous awards, including international ones. This proves that we are creating a European-quality product in Ukraine that can be competitive in foreign markets,” the press service quoted Broslavtseva as saying.
CupSoul, which is responsible for the tea division within the corporation, added that at the end of 2025, it began exporting Graff tea to Spain. During 2026, it plans to enter the Canadian market and further expand in Europe, particularly in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, where the trademark has already been registered.
Despite a rocket attack on the production complex in Dnipro in the spring of 2025, which damaged the workshop and destroyed raw material stocks, the company resumed production within a month. Currently, the tea range includes 124 items. Over the past year, the brand has received a number of professional awards, including the Red Dot Award for packaging design and bronze awards at the Effie Awards Ukraine.
Biosphere Corporation is a leading manufacturer and distributor of household and personal hygiene products in Ukraine and one of the leaders in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Its production facilities consist of six modern factories in Ukraine and two in Europe. Its portfolio of 25 brands includes Freken BOK, Smile, Novita, Lady Cotton, PRO service, Alufix, Vortex, Graff, and others, with about 2,000 SKUs. According to the release, Biosphere products are represented in more than 25 countries and over 100 retail chains, including METRO, Auchan, Spar, Billa, Carrefour, Albert, and Hofer.
The founder and CEO of the corporation is Andriy Zdesenko.
The number of Spanish residents born outside the country has exceeded 10 million for the first time, reaching 10,004,581 as of January 1, 2026, according to data from the Spanish Institute of Statistics (INE).
The total population of Spain on that date reached 49,570,725, meaning that the proportion of residents born abroad was close to 20%.
The INE notes that the population growth was mainly due to an increase in the number of people born outside the country, while the number of people born in Spain continued to decline. At the same time, the number of residents with foreign citizenship as of January 1, 2026, was 7,243,561, which is less than the number of “foreign-born” due to the process of obtaining Spanish citizenship.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Spain’s population increased by 81,520 people, and in annual terms, the increase is estimated at 442,428 people. Among the main nationalities that arrived in the fourth quarter of 2025, INE highlights Colombian, Venezuelan, and Moroccan.
For comparison with Ukrainians: according to Spanish data, as of December 31, 2025, there were 338,576 Ukrainian citizens with valid residence permits in the country, with 73% of such permits granted under the temporary protection mechanism.
Spain for the first time came out on the first place in Europe on the investment attractiveness of real estate investment, according to CBRE European Investor Intentions Survey 2026.
According to CBRE materials, in the survey (cross-boarder responses, without taking into account the choice of “home” market) Spain became the leader of expectations for total real estate returns in 2026 – “just under 50%” of respondents named it as the market with the highest expectations.
The top 10 countries in terms of expectations for aggregate returns in 2026 included Spain, the UK, Poland, Italy, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Denmark, France and Sweden.
In the ranking of the most attractive cities for cross-border investment, London retained the first place.
Next in the top five were Madrid (2nd), Warsaw (3rd), Barcelona (4th) and Milan (5th).
CBRE notes an improvement in investor sentiment: 89% of respondents expect their buying activity in 2026 to increase or remain at the same level as in 2025. Living (residential real estate) remains the most preferred segment for the second year in a row, with logistics maintaining a strong position and interest in retail and offices growing year on year.
CBRE is a global commercial real estate and consulting firm; the European Investor Intentions Survey 2026 is based on responses from nearly 700 investors and outlines expectations for Europe’s real estate markets and sectors over the next year.
The CBRE European Investor Intentions Survey 2026 report does not mention Ukraine.
The left-wing coalition Sumar has registered an initiative in the Spanish Congress aimed at legalizing the rental market, which provides for a ban on cash payments for rent and the transfer of payments to electronic, traceable channels, according to Spanish media reports.
According to the published details, payments are to be made by bank transfer or other electronic means, and financial institutions servicing such transactions will be required to automatically transfer information to the Spanish tax service (AEAT) to identify undeclared income and strengthen tenant protection by confirming payment with bank statements.
A separate element of the package is a 1% withholding from the rent amount, which the landlord will have to transfer to the AEAT on a monthly basis. The materials emphasize that this levy is also seen as a tool for forming a more accurate indicator of rental price dynamics across regions.
Sumar estimates the scale of tax losses from violations and evasion in the rental income segment at over €12.5 billion per year and proposes to strengthen the resources of the tax service, including the creation of specialized units to detect violations in the real estate market.
For banks, implementing this approach means an increase in the share of payments passing through accounts and, at the same time, an expansion of the role of compliance and data exchange with tax authorities. For the housing market, this could mean an acceleration of the “whitening” of rents and increased price transparency, but the parameters and timing will depend on the initiative passing through parliament.
In Spain, measures to tighten rules in the seasonal rental segment and prevent abuse are being discussed in parallel, with the government having previously announced the preparation of a corresponding package. For comparison, in Greece, a rule will be introduced on January 1, 2026, according to which rent must be paid through registered bank accounts, and cash payments will no longer be accepted.
