Valencia is the capital of both the autonomous community of the Comunitat Valenciana and the province of Valencia. According to the Ayuntamiento de València's municipal padrón, the city reached 844,424 inhabitants as of 1 January 2025. Note a live administrative discrepancy: INE's own preliminary communication to the city council for the same date put the figure at 841,169 — a gap of 3,255 people that triggered a formal reconciliation procedure between the two administrations. The last fully INE-certified figure (1 January 2024) was 825,948, meaning growth of roughly 15,000–18,000 residents over the year depending on which 2025 count is eventually ratified. Treat the exact 2025 total as provisional until INE's Real Decreto certification is published.
Valencia offers a lower cost-of-living, mid-sized-city alternative to Madrid and Barcelona while still being a genuine economic hub: the Port of Valencia, run by the Autoridad Portuaria de Valencia, is the leading container port on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, and the Generalitat Valenciana has designated the city's port and innovation zone as the "'46 Valencia Mediterranean Tech Hub" urban technology enclave to concentrate tech, startup and digital-industry activity. The city also has a substantial and growing international population — per the Ayuntamiento's own padrón breakdown, 19.61% of registered residents (165,636 people) hold foreign nationality, with Colombia, Italy, Venezuela, Ukraine and China among the largest countries of origin. Connectivity is strong and improving: Valencia Airport (Manises) closed 2025 with a record 11.8 million passengers (Aena), and the city sits on Adif's high-speed AVE corridor to Madrid.
Key Facts
Administrative structure: Valencia is the capital of the Comunitat Valenciana, which comprises three provinces (Valencia, Alicante and Castellón); Valencia city is also the capital of Valencia province.
Population (city): 844,424 per the Ayuntamiento de València's municipal padrón as of 1 January 2025; INE's preliminary parallel count for the same date was 841,169, with reconciliation pending at time of writing. Last fully INE-certified figure: 825,948 (1 January 2024).
International residents: 19.61% foreign nationality as of the 1 January 2025 padrón (165,636 of 844,424 residents), per Ayuntamiento de València data; roughly a quarter of foreign residents are EU nationals, the rest non-EU.
Economy: Port of Valencia — the leading Mediterranean container port on Spain's coast — plus a Generalitat-backed push to grow the city as a Mediterranean tech and innovation hub ("46 Valencia Mediterranean Tech Hub" urban technology enclave).
Connectivity: Valencia Airport (Manises) — a record 11.8 million passengers in 2025 (+9.6%), per Aena's official 2025 traffic figures, with international routes (led by Italy, Germany, France, UK and the Netherlands) making up about 75% of commercial traffic. Adif's high-speed AVE line connects Valencia directly to Madrid.
Climate (AEMET, València station, 1981-2010 normals, light touch — see the dedicated weather document for detail): Mediterranean climate, warmer than Madrid or Barcelona year-round. Annual average temperature 18.3°C, average maximum 22.8°C, average minimum 13.8°C, annual precipitation 475 mm.
Administrative quirk — co-official language: Valencian (Valencià) is co-official with Castilian Spanish throughout the Comunitat Valenciana. Under Decree 61/2017 of the Generalitat, residents have the right to interact with the Generalitat, local government and other public bodies in Valencian, and Generalitat administration communications with other public entities based in the region are drafted in Valencian.
Tax note: the Comunitat Valenciana sets its own property transfer tax (ITP) rate, distinct from Madrid's and Cataluña's — see NomadPilot's closing-costs documentation for the current rate rather than re-deriving it here.