Immigration Trends in Spain: 1980-2002
The proposed traffic graph reflects the arrival of immigrants to Spain from 1980 to 2002. The annual series is not consistent; at first, it is almost five years, and then from 1997, it is annual. So, although the general trend is ascending, the chart does not accurately reflect the large increase in entries produced in the last few years.
From 1980 to 1995, the number of immigrants increased by about 150,000 every five years. This trend increases greatly after 1997 because the number of entries exceeds 100,000, but in a year. Throughout the series, the large increase that occurs between 2000 and 2001, in which there are 200,000 new immigrants, is highlighted.
Causes of Immigration to Spain
Among the causes, we must first point out the economic and political situation in Spain since 1978, which makes it a democratic and stable country from a political point of view. At the same time, economic development, especially since its entry into the European Union, has played a role.
The home countries of immigrants have been changing. In the 1970s, immigrants were mainly Latin Americans because of the political instability caused by dictatorial governments and the cultural ties that unite Spain with Latin America. In the 1980s, the population arriving from Iran and Iraq increased due to the war between the two countries. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the USSR, there was an increase in the arrival of the population of the countries of Eastern Europe. The economic disintegration of these regions also played a role. The Bosnian War also meant an increase in immigrants from the former Yugoslavia.
Currently, immigrants from Africa have some importance, especially from the Maghreb countries like Morocco and Algeria. Both countries have large population growth and, hence, a large number of young people of working age, with very high unemployment rates due to economic backwardness and disintegration caused by globalization, as well as political problems inherent in the development of Islamic fundamentalism, particularly problematic in Algeria.
The communities where there are more foreign residents are those that offer more opportunities to work, such as Madrid and Catalonia, followed by Andalusia, Valencia, and the Canary Islands. The economic activities that immigrants engage in are concentrated in the primary sector (especially agriculture) and tertiary sectors (construction and domestic service).
Consequences of Immigration
For Origin Countries
- Loss of an important part of the population sector that is better prepared and in their reproductive age.
- Depopulation of some areas.
- Delay in any economic or political changes, as the people who could press for them leave.
- Positive consequence: Arrival of foreign exchange that helps the recovery of the economies of both families and the country in general.
For Destination Country (Spain)
- Positive impact: Arrival of cheap labor that occupies the jobs considered undesirable by the Spanish. This increases the level of contributions to the general Social Security system, decreasing the dependency rate.
- Positive impact: The arrival of young people increases the birth rate in communities where the fertility rate is very low (in some cases, the lowest in Europe).
- Increase in incidences of racism and xenophobia, particularly when immigrants have no chance to work legally and are forced to live in ghettos.
To avoid such situations, an economic policy that favors social and cultural integration where possible, and if not, the existence of multiculturalism, would be required. Therefore, as the arrival of immigrants is increasingly numerous, individual governments are trying to apply different control policy measures, integration, and assimilation.