Some demographic stuff about Madrid
Population info about the city
The Population of Madrid
Over 6 million people live in the 'Comunidad' (up by a million since 1998) and about 3.5 million of them in the city itself, which is growing fast, helped by Spain's relatively strong economic outlook and a large influx of immigrants, mainly from Eastern Europe and South America. It is the third largest city in the EU after London and Paris. Approximately 90% of the population are natives (i.e. Spanish born). As of 2003 the largest immigrant groups registered are: Ecuadorian (85,000), Moroccan (55,000), Chinese (50,000), Colombian (40,000) and Peruvian (35,000) with Romanians and Filipinos also making up large communities. However, this official data masks the real numbers as plenty of immigrants are illegal (i.e. unregistered) and they survive by working in the large black economy that permeates all of Spain.
Update - Spain Population figures 2006 from INE.
The latest calculation of Spain's total population is now put at 45,116,894, split 50.6% women to 49.4% men. Within this number there are 4.5 million 'immigrants' or registered foreign residents. Moroccans count for 575,000, Romanians 525,000, Ecuadorians 420,000 and Brits 315,000.
In Madrid, the Romanians (148,000 pop.) have overtaken the Ecuadorians (136,000) as the largest immigrant group; between 2005 and 2006 the numbers grew by 25%. Moroccans are the third largest (68,000) and Colombians 4th (61,000).