SHAFAQNA- Based on the geographical distribution of the population, more Muslims live in the eastern and southern half of Spain, and among the autonomous states you can find more Muslims in Andalusia, Catalonia, Valencia, and Madrid and Murcia.
Spain’s Muslim population has grown by 40,000 in 2020 to more than 2 million (exactly 2,091,656). Thus, Muslims make up 4% of the population of Spain. The number of Muslims living in Spain has increased by 1.4 percent.
A survey by The Union of Islamic Communities of Spain (UCIDE; Spanish: Unión de Comunidades Islámicas de España) shows that 42% of Muslims living in Spain are Spanish (879,808) and 58% of them are foreign Muslims. The study also found that among the people of Spain, the number of Muslim children and their descendants has increased significantly. Among those who have acquired Spanish nationality, the number of Muslims has also increased.
Among the five major branches of Islam known in the world, the followers of the Maliki and Hanafi schools (of the Sunnis) are the most numerous among the Muslims of Spain. After them are Shafi’i and Hanbali (of the Sunnis) and Jafari school (of the Shias) has the lowest population among them. Small groups of Dervishes and Sufis can also be identified among each of these schools.
In terms of Muslim nationality in Spain, two large population groups of Spaniards and Moroccans can be identified. To these two can be added the population of Pakistanis, who are a large minority in some cities such as Barcelona, Badalona (in Barcelona), Valencia, Logroño (Province of La Rioja). Senegalese Muslims also live in cities such as Salou in the province of Tarragona and Vigo in Pontedera. The Algerian Muslims in cities such as Alicante, Ejea de los Caballeros and Lalín can also be considered relatively small minorities. Other nationalities are scattered in different parts of Spain. Among Muslim immigrants, we can identify 4 geographical areas that were the origin of this migration:
– Morocco Region
– West Africa
– Near East (Medio Próximo)
– Middle East (Medio Oriente)
From these areas and elsewhere, people immigrated to Spain in the 1940s to reside and acquire Spanish nationality; People who have grandchildren in this country today.
In the late 1960s, on the other hand, some Spaniards turned to various religions and schools in search of individual identity. Meanwhile, a group of them also accepted Islam as their religion. In this way, Spanish Muslims can be classified as follows:
– Muslims of Spanish origin
– Muslims of Spanish nationality
– Muslims from Ceuta or Melilla (Moroccan cities in Spain)
– Muslims who are the descendants of past immigrants
Based on the geographical distribution of the population, more Muslims live in the eastern and southern parts of Spain, and in the autonomous states we can see more Muslims in Andalusia, Catalonia, Valencia, and Madrid and Murcia. Ceuta and Melillaare are also in the lead in terms of the percentage of the Muslim population. In terms of provinces, Barcelona and Madrid, followed by Murcia, have the most Muslims.
Internal migration with the objective of finding a job or housing has also influenced the formation of Muslim populations in Spain. These factors have led to an increase in the migrant population as a whole, except in areas such as Ávila, Jaén, and Zamora, where the migration trend has been declining. We have also seen the growth of the Spanish Muslim population, with the exception of the regions of Ávila, Ceuta and Guadalajara, where the number of Spanish Muslims has not grown. The sum of these changes in recent years indicates the formation of a balance in the immigrant Muslim population as well as the Muslim Spaniards in Spain, and the increase in the Muslim population of Spain compared to the past.
The cities with the largest number of Muslims include Barcelona, Ceuta, Madrid, Melia, and finally El Ejido (city in Almería) and Murcia, while the most populous Muslim origins are, respective to their size: Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal, Algeria, Nigeria, and Mali, Gambia and Bangladesh.
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