Most Populous Provinces in Spain

List of the 10 most populous provinces in Spain. Madrid leads the ranking of Spanish provinces with the most population, followed by Barcelona and Valencia.

The list of the 10 most populous provinces in Spain includes the list of provinces in Spain taking into account the resident population. The most populous province in Spain is Madrid, followed by the province of Barcelona and the province of Valencia that complete the podium of the ranking of the most populous provinces in Spain, according to the 2018 estimate. This top-10 of the Spanish provinces with the most population is closely linked to the Spanish cities with the most population. Madrid and Barcelona have more than twice the population of each of the other provinces in this ranking. The provinces of southern Spain dominate compared to those of the North, Center and Islands. The provinces of Seville, Alicante, Malaga, Murcia and Cádiz are the provinces in southern Spain with the most inhabitants.

List of the 10 most populous provinces in Spain

10th Balearic Islands

Opening this list of the 10 most populous provinces in Spain is the province of Balearic Islands, located in the Islands of the same name, which has 1,148,947 inhabitants.

9th Bizkaia

With a population of 1,152,200, this province located in the Basque Country is the most northern of all the provinces listed here.

8th Cádiz

The province of Cádiz has 1,240,020 residents in 2018 and is one of the most populated Spanish provinces , thanks to cities such as Jerez de la Frontera and Cádiz.

7th Murcia

With almost 1.5 million inhabitants, the province of Murcia is on this list thanks to the city that gives its name to the province and the autonomous region.

6th Malaga

This province helps make Andalusia one of the most populous Spanish autonomous regions, with its 1,660,693 inhabitants.

5th Alicante

The province of Alicante, located in the Autonomous Region of Spain, is one of the most sought after for Tourism and its population reached 1,857,088 inhabitants in 2018.

4th Seville

The capital of Andalusia is also the capital of the province of Seville and reaches almost 2 million inhabitants.

3rd Valencia

On the podium of the most populous provinces in Spain is the capital of the Valencian Community, the province of Valencia, with a population of 2,563,887 inhabitants.

2nd Barcelona

With 5,663,284 people residing in the province of Barcelona in 2018, this Catalan province is just behind the most populous of the Spanish provinces.

1st Madrid

The most populous province of Spain is the province of Madrid with a population of 6,661,949, thanks largely to the population of one of the most populous European cities .

List of the 10 most populous provinces in Spain