The registered population in Calpe has increased once again this year. The National Institute of Statistics has informed the Town Hall that its proposed population figure for the municipality as of 1st January 2023 is 25,854 inhabitants, that is, 1,758 more than in 2022. A period of allegations is now open and if there are no allegations, the INE's proposal will be officially approved.
This increase is due, on the one hand, to a higher registration of people from Ukraine and Russia, due to the armed conflict that began last year. In fact, in 2022, 364 Ukrainians and 191 Russians were registered in the Calpe census. And on the other hand, to the awareness campaigns and the work carried out from the Padrón department of the Town Hall.
One of the problems detected is the lack of information among citizens, who in many cases are convinced that they are already registered or are unaware of the need to renew the census if they are foreigners.
For this reason, last year the City Council launched a campaign in different languages consisting of videos, jingles and posters to raise awareness of the importance of being registered in order to access numerous municipal services and benefits. In addition, the Padrón sends letters of notice or SMS three months in advance to those citizens whose registration on the Padrón is about to expire so that they can renew their registration.
These actions, along with others carried out in previous years, have allowed Calpe to gradually recover its population after reaching the 20,000 inhabitants barrier in 2016 (with the consequent loss of transfers from the State). In this way, Calpe continues to recover inhabitants and economic subsidies.
Beyond these economic aids, the mayoress of Calpe, Ana Sala, has stressed the need to raise awareness among citizens to be registered in the census. "For the residents themselves it is very important that they have renewed or updated their registration in the municipal census, otherwise they will be removed from the census, which entails the loss of their rights as residents of the municipality".