SpainScore rankings · Updated July 2026
Where Americans actually live in Spain — the top towns
Not a ranking of where you should go — a census count of where the most US-born residents already are.
How we ranked this
This list is NOT persona-scored. It's sorted straight from Spain's 2025 census: the towns with the most US-born residents, largest count first.
- Data INE census (population, origins), AEMET climate normals, regional PISA scores, and the Health Ministry's SISLE waiting lists — each town compared against the Spanish average.
- Reproducible This is a straight census sort — the same numbers you'd get from INE, just ranked and linked.
- What we don't score This is a raw census count, not a recommendation — big cities top it simply because they're big. See per-1,000 concentration for where Americans are dense rather than merely numerous.
The ranking
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Has a full SpainScore town profile — Madrid.
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Has a full SpainScore town profile — Barcelona.
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Has a full SpainScore town profile — Valencia/València.
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Has a full SpainScore town profile — Sevilla.
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Has a full SpainScore town profile — Málaga.
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Has a full SpainScore town profile — Balears, Illes.
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Has a full SpainScore town profile — Alicante/Alacant.
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Has a full SpainScore town profile — Granada.
- 9
Pozuelo de Alarcón Madrid
735 US-born residents (2025)In Madrid.
- 10
Sant Cugat del Vallès Catalonia
691 US-born residents (2025)In Barcelona.
Compare the top 10
| # | Town | US-born (2025) | per 1,000 | Growth ’21–’25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madrid | 14,538 | 4.18 | 36% |
| 2 | Barcelona | 9,237 | 5.39 | 48% |
| 3 | València | 3,452 | 4.1 | 115% |
| 4 | Sevilla | 1,295 | 1.88 | 34% |
| 5 | Málaga | 999 | 1.67 | 72% |
| 6 | Palma | 913 | 2.06 | 24% |
| 7 | Alacant | 879 | 2.4 | 67% |
| 8 | Granada | 742 | 3.15 | 41% |
| 9 | Pozuelo de Alarcón | 735 | 8.22 | 24% |
| 10 | Sant Cugat del Vallès | 691 | 7.05 | 38% |
Values from the SpainScore dataset (INE / AEMET / regional sources). "no data" = we don't have that number for this town and never guess it.
Questions
Where do most Americans live in Spain?
By raw count, Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia have the most US-born residents, followed by Alicante and coastal towns like Rota (near the US naval base). This is a straight census count — for concentration, sort by US-born per 1,000.
Is this where Americans should move in Spain?
Not necessarily — it's where they already are, which is mostly a function of city size. For a recommendation tuned to your own priorities, take our quiz or see our best-places-for-American-retirees ranking.
This is where they already are, not where you should go
Get your ranking, not this one →
This list scores one representative persona. Answer a dozen honest questions and we score all 8,132 municipalities against your priorities — climate, cost, healthcare, community, getting home — with the tradeoffs shown as plainly as the wins.
Take the 3-minute quiz →Updated July 2026. Re-generated from the SpainScore dataset on each data release — the ranking is reproducible, not editorial.