Marbella to receive one million euros more from the government

The National Institute of Statistics has finally recognised that the population is over 150,000 although the council is challenging its figures because it says the real number is higher

Joaquina Dueñas

Marbella

Wednesday, 27 April 2022, 10:30 | Updated 10:45h.

For some time now, Marbella has been trying to get the National Institute of Statistics (INE) to recognise that its population is higher than 150,000. In fact, in March this year the municipal population register showed a total of nearly 158,200, but the INE maintains that it is 150,691. However, that is good news for the town, because it means it will now receive one million euros more from the government, as council spokesman Félix Romero explained on Monday.

He confirmed that the local authority will be challenging the INE’s version of Marbella’s population, requesting that they recognise the difference, but said that anyway, from 1 January 2023 the municipality will be one of those which officially has more than 150,000 inhabitants and the extra funding will enable the council to provide more services.

Malaga province is one of those which has grown most in Spain in the past year in terms of population, with 20,652 new inhabitants of whom nearly 3,000 are in Marbella. This means the town’s population has increased by 1.8% in barely a year. For the province, the figure is 1.22%.

Marbella is a popular place to live and work, especially as it is ideal for remote working, but many people also choose to retire there, especially the British. Romero pointed out that because of the war in Ukraine, refugees are also coming to Marbella: 180 have registered with the town hall in a fortnight. These new arrivals are not included in the population figures which have already been sent to the INE, but will be taken into account next year.