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Seasonal population estimates. Municipalities with more AFTE seasonal population

Seasonal population estimates (base 2021). Municipalities with more AFTE seasonal population Catalonia. 2024 (p)
AFTE seasonal population
Resident population Non resident pop. present Resident pop. absent Total AFTE population AFTE population (%)
Barcelona 1,686,208 292,739 -194,612 98,127 1,784,335 105.8
Salou 30,442 35,305 -3,527 31,778 62,220 204.4
Lloret de Mar 42,134 22,589 -3,950 18,639 60,773 144.2
Tarragona 141,018 28,019 -12,928 15,091 156,109 110.7
Girona 106,476 25,251 -11,173 14,078 120,554 113.2
Cambrils 36,686 17,849 -4,880 12,970 49,656 135.4
Cerdanyola del Vallès 57,831 21,594 -9,319 12,275 70,106 121.2
Roses 20,255 11,423 -1,967 9,456 29,711 146.7
Castell d'Aro, Platja d'Aro i s'Agaró 12,773 10,646 -1,331 9,314 22,087 172.9
Torroella de Montgrí 12,421 9,870 -1,177 8,693 21,114 170.0
Mont-roig del Camp 14,185 10,110 -1,530 8,579 22,764 160.5
Calafell 31,567 12,270 -3,886 8,384 39,951 126.6
Vendrell, el 40,526 11,907 -4,279 7,628 48,154 118.8
Calonge i Sant Antoni 12,203 8,492 -1,520 6,972 19,175 157.1
Vila-seca 24,061 10,333 -3,434 6,899 30,960 128.7
Castelló d'Empúries 12,132 8,226 -1,346 6,881 19,013 156.7
Tossa de Mar 6,241 7,420 -561 6,859 13,100 209.9
Escala, l' 10,630 8,009 -1,263 6,746 17,376 163.5
Prat de Llobregat, el 65,910 15,313 -8,726 6,588 72,498 110.0
Santa Susanna 3,999 7,266 -688 6,577 10,576 264.5
Palafrugell 24,245 8,570 -1,995 6,575 30,820 127.1
Calella 20,207 8,832 -2,377 6,455 26,662 131.9
Blanes 41,935 10,081 -4,195 5,886 47,821 114.0
Sitges 32,496 10,529 -5,449 5,080 37,576 115.6
Malgrat de Mar 19,270 6,783 -2,187 4,596 23,866 123.9
(p) Provisional data.

Last update: March 30, 2026.

Methodological note

Definition of concepts

AFTE seasonal population
The result of the balance between entries of population not resident in the municipality and exits of population resident in the municipality, measured as an annual average number of people per day (annual full time equivalents).
AFTE population
Population resident in a municipality, measured as the annual average of people per day (annual full time equivalents). It is the equivalent to the sum of the resident population and the entries of non resident population in the municipality minus the exits of the population resident in the municipality.
Resident population
Registered population in the municipality.

Methodological aspects

The Seasonal population estimates constitute an estimation of the population burdens supported by each municipality and measure the number of people there are in a municipality as a yearly average and a quarterly average. The calculation includes people that have some sort of association or relation with the municipality, whether that is because they reside there, work there, study there or despite not having their regular residence there, spend some period of time there (holidays, summer breaks, weekends, etc.), either in their own homes or in those of friends and family or in tourist establishments (hotels, campsites, apartments, tourist accommodations, etc.). Movements without overnight stays due to work and studies are considered, and also due to tourism in the base 2021. In contrast, movements without overnight stays for other reasons (such as leisure, shopping or medical visits) are not considered.

The measurement unit for seasonal population estimates are annual full time equivalents. Every day that a person is present in a municipality equates to 1/365 annual full time equivalents (AFTE). So, for example, a person who spends a week's holiday in a municipality equates to 0.02 AFTE.

The conceptual framework for the seasonal population estimates includes four variables. On the one hand, the AFTE population and the seasonal AFTE population measure the resident population along with flows in and out of the municipality. On the other, the AFTE resident plus visitor population and the resident plus visitor population measure the resident population and only the flows into the municipality.

In 2022, Idescat improved the estimate of the seasonal population. The territorial disaggregation was expanded to offer results for all municipalities with 1,000 inhabitants and over (either registered or AFTE population). An estimate of overnight stays in tourist accommodations and an estimate of hikers for tourist purposes have been added. A new base 2021 has been established to collect these methodological changes.

For further information about these statistics, you may check the methodology.