Cosmopolitan Costa Blanca
Published on 30th August, 2006
7,000 foreigners, around 20%.
Fifty years ago, not long really, the population of the Costa Blanca including Benidorm was made up almost exclusively of the local Spanish who were born and bred here.
These days it’s an entirely different story. Take Vila Joyosa for example, its population of 33,000 now consists of almost 7,000 foreigners, around 20%.
Immigrants have come to the area for various reasons, we ‘rich’ northern Europeans are here for the excellent climate, lower cost of living and more relaxed style of life. People from poorer countries in Eastern Europe and North Africa have arrived to earn a better living performing menial work than in their native lands.
So, who’s here? From Europe the Brits are number one with almost 1100 citizens, followed by the Germans (329), Dutch (305), Italians (241) and French (217).
From outside the European Union, the Moroccans are the most numerous, followed by the Romanians, Argentinians, Equadorians and Colombians. There is an astonishing total of 88 different nationalities represented in just one small town which just goes to show how small our world is becoming.
Where am I? 
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