The growth in Spanish tourism has been responsible for an increase in the number of foreign citizens being granted permanent residency in the country, it is claimed.
According to the Spanish tourist board, a record 59.2 million tourists travelled to Spain last year - an increase of 1.7 per cent on 2006, Kyero.com reports.
This coincided with an increase in non-national residents of almost one million, suggesting that the economic prosperity and infrastructural developments brought by tourism have attracted more foreign citizens to Spanish shores.
The figures show that there are now around four million non-nationals living in Spain, including 199,000 Brits who have left the UK in search of sunnier climes and a more relaxed way of life.
Consumer portal HolidayLettings.co.uk recently found that Spain was the number one holiday home destination for British overseas property buyers in 2007.
Most were choosing mixed use properties which they could use as holiday homes for part of the year before renting them out to tourists during peak seasons, according to Homes Worldwide.
