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Indians in Spain
India has the largest diaspora in the world & as per the Ministry of External Affairs, there are 3.2 Crores or 32 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) residing outside India.
As per the Ministry of External Affairs 2018 report, there are 69,988 (70 thousand) Indians residing in Spain.
- Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) – 20,904
- Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) – 49,084
read about the Population of Overseas Indians
Source: MEA report about overseas Indian population.
Spain Indian population
Indians make up around 0.2% of the Spain population & approx population of Indians in Spain as of 2023 is 70,000 (70 thousand). Indian Expats have recently immigrated especially information technology professionals. The Indian community, which is a rapidly growing immigrant group, constitutes only 1.9% of the total foreign population in Spain. As of 2023, about 50 thousand NRIs live in Spain.
Persons of Indian Origin in Spain are approx 20 thousand. Most persons of Indian Origin originally migrated to Spain from Africa, while others came from India and even Japan and Southeast Asia. Spain also have descendants of Indian laborers from the former Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea.
Sindhis and Sikhs form the majority of the Indian community. Sindhi are mainly traders and shopkeepers in the Spanish Canary Islands of Las Palmas and Tenerife. By the mid-seventies, there were over 200 Indian trading houses in Ceuta and Melilla. With the liberalisation in import policies introduced in the eighties, business activity shifted to the port cities of Malaga and Barcelona. Madrid also attracted many Indian businessmen,
Currently, the autonomous community of Catalonia has half of the total Sikh population in Spain. It also has 10 of the total 21 gurudwaras (Sikh temples) in Spain. After Catalonia, the autonomous communities of Valencia, Murcia, and the Balearic Islands have a considerable number of Sikhs
Regions with significant populations
- Madrid
- Barcelona
- Ceuta
- Melilla
- Canary Islands
- Palma de Mallorca
- Valencia
- Girona
- Alicante
Religion of Indian population in Spain
Hinduism is the main religion followed by people of Indian origin in Spain. Sikhs and Christians also have sizable numbers. Among the Indian immigrants in Spain, the majority belongs to the Sikh religion, which is broadly divided into Moderate (90%) and Baptised Sikhs (10%), followed by a small number of Hindus, Christians, and Muslims.
also read about religion in Spain