Spain has 1,176 seminarians in training for the 2025-2026 academic year, according to the data published by the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE). This figure represents a slight increase compared to the previous year and is a reason to celebrate this Seminary Day. However, these overall data do not reflect the real distribution of vocations, as the CEE does not provide a breakdown by diocese.
From Infovaticana, we have prepared a report based on the incorporations into seminaries in Spain from public information that allows completing that picture and shows a more fragmented reality, with a strong concentration of seminarians in certain dioceses and wide areas with minimal or non-existent figures.
| Province | Seminarians | Inhabitants (approx.) | Ratio per 100,000 inhabitants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo | 80 | 750,000 | 10.6 |
| Cuenca | 12 | 200,000 | 6.0 |
| Córdoba | 46 | 780,000 | 5.9 |
| Burgos | 21 | 360,000 | 5.8 |
| León | 17 | 450,000 | 3.8 |
| Murcia | 52 | 1,530,000 | 3.2 |
| Alicante | 60 | 2,050,000 | 2.9 |
| Navarra | 20 | 690,000 | 2.9 |
| Castellón | 16 | 630,000 | 2.5 |
| Jaén | 15 | 630,000 | 2.4 |
| Valladolid | 11 | 520,000 | 2.0 |
| Ourense | 9 | 310,000 | 2.0 |
| Segovia | 3 | 160,000 | 1.9 |
| Zamora | 3 | 170,000 | 1.8 |
| Valencia | 52 | 2,900,000 | 1.8 |
| Granada | 17 | 920,000 | 1.8 |
| Madrid | 120 | 6,900,000 | 1.7 |
| Albacete | 6 | 400,000 | 1.5 |
| Sevilla | 29 | 1,950,000 | 1.4 |
| Zaragoza | 14 | 980,000 | 1.4 |
| Asturias | 15 | 1,020,000 | 1.4 |
| Baleares | 17 | 1,200,000 | 1.1 |
| Lugo | 9 | 330,000 | 1.1 |
| Cádiz | 26 | 1,250,000 | 1.0 |
| Huelva | 4 | 520,000 | 0.8 |
| A Coruña | 8 | 1,120,000 | 0.7 |
| Almería | 5 | 730,000 | 0.7 |
| Cantabria | 4 | 590,000 | 0.7 |
| Santa Cruz de Tenerife | 7 | 1,050,000 | 0.7 |
| Málaga | 11 | 1,800,000 | 0.6 |
| Huesca | 3 | 220,000 | 0.6 |
| Salamanca | 2 | 330,000 | 0.6 |
| Cáceres | 2 | 400,000 | 0.5 |
| Badajoz | 4 | 670,000 | 0.6 |
| Las Palmas | 7 | 1,150,000 | 0.6 |
| Teruel | 1 | 135,000 | 0.7 |
| Soria | 4 | 90,000 | 0.5 |
| Barcelona | 25 | 5,700,000 | 0.4 |
| Vizcaya | 5 | 1,150,000 | 0.4 |
| Girona | 3 | 800,000 | 0.4 |
| Tarragona | 2 | 850,000 | 0.3 |
| Pontevedra | 2 | 950,000 | 0.3 |
| Guadalajara | 1 | 270,000 | 0.3 |
| Álava | 1 | 330,000 | 0.3 |
| Ávila | 4 | 160,000 | 0.6 |
| Palencia | 1 | 160,000 | 0.6 |
| Ciudad Real | 0 | 490,000 | 0 |
| Lleida | 0 | 440,000 | 0 |
| Gipuzkoa | 0 | 720,000 | 0 |
| La Rioja | 0 | 320,000 | 0 |
| Ceuta | 0 | 85,000 | 0 |
| Melilla | 0 | 86,000 | 0 |
Vocational Concentration in a Few Dioceses
The collected data show that the weight of vocations is concentrated in a reduced number of dioceses. Madrid leads the list with 82 diocesan seminarians, to which are added 38 from the Redemptoris Mater (RM) seminary of the Neocatechumenal Way. Followed by Toledo (80), Valencia (52), and Getafe (40).
Orihuela-Alicante (38 plus 22 RM), Córdoba (34 plus 12 RM), or Cartagena-Murcia (28 plus 24 RM) also stand out.
Dioceses with Minimal Presence or Without Seminarians
The contrast is especially visible in other dioceses, where vocations are very scarce. Several barely have one or two seminarians, such as Barbastro-Monzón, Ciudad Rodrigo, or Tarazona. In addition, some dioceses do not register any seminarian in training, including San Sebastián, Menorca, or Lérida.
This territorial imbalance is not reflected in the aggregated data from the CEE, which offer a global view but do not allow identifying these internal differences.
Decline in Admissions and Ordinations in Official Data
In parallel, the CEE data show a trend that nuances the slight global growth. New admissions have decreased from 262 to 227 in the last year, while priestly ordinations have gone from 85 to 58.
Two Readings of the Same Reality
In this way, while the global figures from the CEE suggest a certain stability, the detailed analysis by diocese reveals a more unequal situation: vocational concentration in a few territories, dependence on certain training models, and wide areas without generational replacement.