More than 3,000 centenarians in Catalonia: "I've always done what I wanted, I haven't taken care of myself at all"

BarcelonaAna Franco turned 100 this June, but she wants to make it clear that she still sews her own dresses after a lifetime working as a dressmaker. The latest thing she made, for example, is a pink blouse, although this Tuesday she chose an elegant green leather jacket. She hasn't lost her sense of humor; she's very ironic, and at the retirement home where she lives, she plays dominoes whenever she can, explain her family, who admit they still can't beat her. She spent more than three decades working as the head of a textile factory in Switzerland, fulfilling all kinds of orders, from protective gear for nuclear power plant workers to wedding dresses, and she says that every garment a dressmaker makes is important and each one has its own secret to making it turn out well. However, she's not so sure there's a secret to living a century; at least she maintains that she hasn't done anything special to achieve it: "I've always done what I wanted, I haven't taken care of myself at all. I've danced a lot and had a lot of fun."

She is one of the 12 centenarians honored by the Catalan government this Tuesday afternoon because, for the first time, the number of people over 100 years old in Catalonia has surpassed 3,000, according to the latest population estimates from the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat). These individuals have been steadily increasing in number since the 1980s and currently number 3,051. This is yet another sign of the progressive aging of the population, as The number of people over 100 years old practically doubles every decadeWhile the population under 15 is declining. In fact, this trend has remained stable since 2018: the young population is shrinking and the other age groups are increasing, especially those over 65.

Ana was born in 1925 and, in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, worked making ration books, which were distributed to obtain basic necessities like clothing and food. When the war ended, she found work in a jewelry shop, making costume jewelry until a friend convinced her to move to Switzerland because there was more work there. After a stint as a waitress, she found a job as a seamstress in the factory where she would eventually become the head seamstress for over 30 years. "I'm very simple, I like natural things," she explains now that she's retired, although she still sews whenever she can. Like her, the number of centenarians has grown exponentially in recent years.

If in 1985 there were 185 people in Catalonia aged 100 or older, by 1995 there were 370, and in the following decades the number increased even more: in 2005 there were 815 and in 2015 there were 2,060. Over the last decade, the rate of increase hasn't been the same, but it has still risen by a thousand, and the vast majority are women: 2,549 women and 502 men. For the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, this is a "sign of the quality of life" that exists in the country. "We have to work, we have to eat well, but we have a good quality of life," Illa argued, also advocating for public healthcare and a care system that addresses the aging population. For the President, having an aging population is "an asset."

More aged

Catalonia reached 8,154,627 inhabitants last July, a provisional figure representing an increase of 41,137 people during the first half of the year, according to estimates published Tuesday by Idescat. In year-on-year terms—that is, compared to the data from July 1, 2024—this represents a 1.1% increase in population. Regarding the rise in the number of centenarians, Daniel Rosselló, a geriatrician at the Terrassa Health Consortium and a member of the teaching committee of the Catalan Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology, explains that between 20% and 40% of these exceptionally long lives are associated with genetic factors, although further research is needed.

To understand the aging of the population, it is necessary to look at the evolution of the different age groups since 2018. During this time, the population aged 0 to 15 has decreased by 97,786 people, while the 16-64 and 65+ age groups have increased by 497,957 and 2, respectively. However, if we consider the data from the last year, the group corresponding to those under 15 years of age decreased by 1.9%, the 16-64 age group increased by 1.4%, and those over 65 grew by 2.3%. Rosselló asserts that geriatric professionals are seeing their patients reach increasingly advanced ages. In fact, this latter group now represents 26% of the total population, a new historical record and a ten-point increase compared to four decades ago. "For us, 80-year-old patients are young," the expert states.

Widespread growth

The 60-79 age group has reached its peak, now representing 20.1% of the population. In contrast, the over-80 age group, which has also grown slightly compared to the first half of 2025, now comprising 5.95% of the population, has not surpassed the record 6.1% reached in 2017 and 2018.

The population increased in all areas during the first half of 2025: by 26,292 people in Barcelona, 7,310 in Tarragona, 5,072 in Girona, and 2,463 in Lleida. Compared to the previous year, the largest increases were in Tarragona and Lleida, with year-on-year growth of 2.2% and 1.4%, respectively. Girona saw a year-on-year increase of 1.1%, and Barcelona 0.9%.