A little history
Throughout its history, Andalusia has often been a densely populated region, with areas of relative "overcrowding" such as in 15th-century Nasrid Granada or 16th- and 17th-century Seville. This trend continued throughout the 20th century, during which the region's population grew at a faster rate than the rest of Spain, thanks to a birth rate well above the national average. Although the Andalusian population remained significant throughout the 20th century, its weight in relation to the Spanish population varied somewhat in the second half of the century. In the 1950s, the Andalusian population represented up to 20% of the Spanish population, before dropping to 17% in the 1980s. This was due to Andalusian emigration to other Spanish regions (Catalonia, Madrid, Valencia, Basque Country) or other European countries (Germany, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland). As in the rest of Spain, the 90s, marked by the return of democracy and economic recovery, saw a number of Andalusians return home.
Almost one in five Spaniards is an Andalusian
Today, Andalusia is the largest Spanish community, with over 8.5 million inhabitants (almost 18% of the Spanish population). At 97.47 inhabitants per km², its population density is higher than the Spanish average (95.26 inh./km²), but what characterizes it above all is the very unbalanced distribution of this population within the eight provinces that make up this community. Most of the population is concentrated in the major cities along the Guadalquivir and Genil rivers and the Mediterranean coast, with the provinces of Seville, Málaga and Cadiz alone accounting for 57% of the Andalusian population. Like the rest of Spain, Andalusia has seen increasing urbanization since the 1960s, and is now home to two of Spain's six most populous cities: Seville (with over 684,000 inhabitants, Spain's fourth largest city) and Málaga (with over 586,000 inhabitants). It is estimated that over half of Andalusia's population lives in cities of over 50,000 inhabitants. This trend is set to continue, with the hyper-metropolises of Seville and Málaga continuing to expand, and the parallel desertification of mountainous regions such as the Sierra Morena and the Betic Cordilleras, where population density is no more than 50 inhabitants per km². Another feature that differentiates Andalusia's population structure from that of Spain as a whole is its relative youth. More than half of Andalusia's population is under 42 years of age, and there are slightly more people under 25 than in Spain (26.8% vs. 24.6%). Here too, however, there is a trend towards an ageing population. This aging is the result of an increase in life expectancy (79.2 years for men and 84.5 years for women in Andalusia) and a drop in the birth rate. In Andalusia, this decline was somewhat offset by a slight rebound in the birth rate among new immigrants. With a fertility rate in 2024 of 1.27 children per woman in Andalusia (1.3 in Spain), both the region and the country are not replacing their populations, and are therefore aging. It is estimated that by 2050, over-65s will account for more than 30% of the Spanish population, and that the number of 80-year-olds will exceed 4 million. This situation is not without its challenges when it comes to paying pensions. In 2018, a Toledo Pact agreement established the principle of increasing pensions in line with CPI (inflation). The same year saw numerous demonstrations by pensionistas (retired people) in all Spain's major cities, bearing in mind that a pensioner often provides a livelihood for many people, particularly young people.
Land of immigration since the 90s
Being an emigration zone has been a constant throughout Andalusia's history, but it was in the mid-20th century that the figures exploded, with the departure of almost half a million Andalusians in the 50s, over 800,000 in the 60s and up to over a million in the 70s. Andalusia thus participated in the great migratory currents of the 20th century, first to America and North Africa before the Civil War, then to Europe and other regions of Spain in the second half of the 20th century. Cities like Madrid and provincial capitals such as Cadiz often served as an intermediate stage between a rural exodus and a move abroad. This situation was reversed in the 90s, and Andalusia has since become a welcoming region for immigrants. Today, 5.35% of Andalusians are of foreign origin, three points below the national average, but this immigration is very unevenly distributed across all the provinces. The province of Almeria is home to the highest number of foreigners (15.20%), while this figure drops to 2.07% for the province of Jaén and 1.77% for that of Cordoba. This immigration is mainly Moroccan (17.79% of foreigners), but also, perhaps more surprisingly, British (15.25%). The majority in the province of Málaga, the British sometimes acquired property during the Costa del Sol tourism boom of the 1960s, and have since been joined by many retirees. Other immigrants are mainly employed in agriculture. Finally, Andalusia is home to a large gypsy community of almost 300,000 people, whose arrival in Spain has been documented since 1425. Their daily situation remains very precarious, and it is estimated that six out of ten Spanish gypsy children are still illiterate. Since October 1996, the Andalusian parliament has declared November 22 to be Andalusian Gypsy Day, to improve recognition of their culture and combat stereotyping.
Andalusian accents
Spanish is spoken throughout Andalusia. Native to the Cantabrian region, the Spanish language has been influenced by ancient Basque, both morphologically and lexically. Spread throughout the kingdom of Castile, for trade and governance, it expanded to the four corners of the world during the expansion of the Spanish Empire between the 15th and 19th centuries. The world's second language (in terms of number of native speakers), it is structurally close to French, due to its Latin origins. Spanish, which is closer to classical Latin and modern Italian, belongs to the Ibero-Romance sub-branch, like Portuguese, which is a close cousin in written form, but much less so in spoken. As you travel through Andalusia, you'll have the opportunity to appreciate the region's distinctive accent, made up of numerous aspirations. And with a musical ear, you'll gradually identify the different languages spoken in each province.
