La Vega Baja del Segura has once again surpassed 400,000 registered residents, according to the latest population figures published in June by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE).
The milestone confirms the Bajo Segura’s position as the third most populated comarca in the Valencian Community, behind only the València metropolitan area and l’Alacantí, and reinforces its growing demographic gap with Baix Vinalopó.
At provincial level, Vega Baja now ranks second, clearly ahead of Baix Vinalopó despite the latter including Elche, the province’s second-largest city. Compared with neighbouring comarcas such as Marina Baixa and Marina Alta, Vega Baja’s population strength highlights its sustained appeal, particularly as a coastal and near-coastal residential destination for both Spanish and foreign residents.
INE data show that Vega Baja added 9,034 residents over the last recorded year, an increase of 2.31 per cent, making it one of the fastest-growing comarcas in the region. Much of this growth is concentrated along the coast, where demand for housing continues to be driven by retirees, second-home owners and international residents.
However, this apparent momentum comes with an important caveat: official INE figures often diverge significantly from municipal padrón registers due to periodic national census “clean-ups”. Another adjustment is scheduled for 1 January 2026, which could again reshape the headline totals.
The gap between official and local figures is not new. Vega Baja previously exceeded 400,000 registered residents in 2013, before losing more than 50,000 between 2013 and 2016 during the economic crisis and a nationwide census purge introduced under Royal Decree 1024/2012.
That process identified more than two million so-called “ghost residents” across Spain, disproportionately affecting tourist-heavy coastal areas. In Vega Baja, the impact was especially severe in towns such as Torrevieja, which removed around 15,000 registrations in a single adjustment, along with Orihuela, San Fulgencio and Rojales.
Today, Torrevieja remains the comarca’s largest municipality with 98,533 registered residents and the biggest absolute annual increase, although the town hall estimates the real population at around 110,000. Orihuela has also grown, largely driven by development along the Orihuela Costa which currently numbers 30,171.
Other coastal and near-coastal municipalities, including Guardamar del Segura, Rojales and Pilar de la Horadada, recorded some of the strongest inflows, underlining the coast as the main engine of demographic growth.
Yet beneath the headline figures lies a persistent structural imbalance. Official population counts continue to underestimate the real number of residents, particularly along the coast. Contributing factors include second-home owners who never deregister elsewhere, foreign residents who leave Spain without completing paperwork, seasonal workers who remain registered despite moving on, and large numbers of long-term residents who never register at all.
This undercount has tangible consequences: regional and national funding, healthcare provision and education planning are all calculated on figures that fall well short of real demand, while coastal municipalities must deliver services for populations that are significantly larger than the statistics suggest.
