A new record of Cubans living in Spain was broken until the end of January 1, 2024, with 200,000 Cubans legally residing in the European country.
According to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in the last two years nearly 22 thousand Cubans have moved to Spanish territory, either because they have acquired nationality, because they have visas that they later exchange for residences, or for asylum requests.
The data shows that the population of the Island has quadrupled since 2002, whose national census showed that there were only 52,701 Cubans, compared to the 200,000 that exist today.
The figures illustrate the magnitude and speed of the migration phenomenon, caused by internal factors on the Island, such as the acute economic crisis and inflation, as well as external factors, such as the facilities for legal migration that Spain provides.
Statistics show that the Cuban community in Spain has not only grown in number, but has also successfully integrated into society with more than 70% already holding Spanish nationality.
The demographic distribution of Cubans in Spain also reveals a female predominance, with 107,987 women, representing 54%, compared to 90,652 men, 46%.
Cuba became the second country with the most citizens obtaining Spanish nationality thanks to the Democratic Memory Law of Spain, better known as the Grandchildren Law.
As of the last update, 22,479 Cubans have acquired Spanish citizenship since the law came into force in October 2022.
Cuba is only surpassed by Argentina in terms of emigrating citizens in Spain thanks to the Nietos Law. The South American country leads with 33,796 new Spanish citizens. Mexico occupies third place with 13,149.
