Apart from the football rivalry that Elche and Granada have been experiencing for a few years, both towns dispute another meeting relating to their population. In the last year Elche has managed to win this particular duel against Granada thanks to its growth of 2,000 people, which has allowed it to overtake the Nasrid city in number of inhabitants, 232,517 by 232,462, to become the 19 most populous municipality in the Spanish geography and consolidate its position within the national “top 20”, a classification led by Madrid, followed from Barcelona, Valencia, Seville and Zaragoza, with Malaga, Murcia, Palma de Mallorca, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Bilbao closing the first ten places.
The rise of 2,000 inhabitants in one year also allows Elche to establish itself as the third city of the Valencian Community, only surpassed by València and Alicante, and with quite an advantage over its immediate persecutor, Castellón, which has 171,728 inhabitants at the moment. Regarding the national classification, Elche is close to the population of A Coruña, Vitoria, Hospitalet de Llobregat and Gijón, from which less than 40,000 people separate it, so there is the possibility that the city of El Salvador will climb more positions in the next years.
–
– .
