Internal Migration in Spain: Past and Present

Posted on Jan 17, 2025 in State Administration

Internal Migration Movements in Spain

Understanding Migration

Migration is the movement of people in space. We must distinguish between emigration (departure of the population from their place of origin) and immigration (the arrival of a target population). Net migration is the balance between emigration and immigration. It is positive if immigration is higher and negative if emigration is higher.

Internal Migrations

Internal migrations are movements of people within the borders of a country. We can distinguish between traditional migration (up to 1975) and current migration (from 1975 to the present).

Traditional Migration (Before 1975)

Traditional migration was characterized by:

  • Motivation: Primarily labor
  • Flows: Unidirectional; immigrants mainly came from rural areas and headed for cities.
  • Profile of emigrants: Young people with low qualifications.
Types of Traditional Migration
  1. Seasonal and temporary: Undertaken with the intent to return. Seasonal migration involved moving to other areas to perform agricultural tasks, such as the harvest. Temporary migration involved traveling to the city at times of the year when there was less field work.
  2. Rural exodus: Migration between rural and urban areas with a permanent or long-term nature. The fundamental motivation was to get more work and higher incomes. Migrants came from more underdeveloped areas, such as Galicia and inland Andalusia, and went first to the industrial areas of Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Madrid.
Stages of the Rural Exodus
  1. First stage (First third of the 20th century): This exodus was motivated by the surplus of labor in rural areas and was directed towards the main industrial zones (Madrid, Barcelona, Basque Country), which offered jobs.
  2. Second stage (Civil War and Postwar period): The rural exodus slowed down. Cities suffered severe supply problems, the labor supply was reduced, and the Franco regime encouraged the rural population to remain in the countryside.
  3. Third stage (1950-1975): The rural exodus reached its highest volume. The causes were population growth, the crisis of traditional agriculture, and the industrial boom.
  4. Fourth stage (From 1975): Rural migration declined. Currently, the rural exodus is very low. Migrants come from very isolated agricultural areas and are aimed at businesses within their own province.

Consequences of Traditional Internal Migration

  • Demographic: Caused a great imbalance in the population distribution, with depletion of the interior and large density in the periphery.
  • Economic: In rural areas, migration initially increased the population’s resources, but over time, there were diseconomies of scale due to the departure of the younger and more educated people, thus reducing productivity.
  • Social: There were problems with the assimilation of rural migrants into urban society. True integration occurred only in the next generation.

Current Internal Migration (Since 1975)

Since 1975, the characteristics of internal migration have been very different:

  • Motivations: Varied, including residential, employment, and return to the place of origin.
  • Flows: Multidirectional. Migrants come not only from the countryside but also from urban municipalities and are directed more toward small and medium-sized cities and even rural areas.
  • Profile: Very diverse, including young, old, skilled, and unskilled individuals.

Types of Current Interregional Migration

  1. Labor Migration: Motivated by work, carried out by young adults (20-39 years).
  2. Residential Migration: Undertaken by young and middle-class individuals seeking affordable housing and better environmental quality. It often involves long-distance migration between the city and the periphery but, in some cases, ranges from large cities to neighboring provinces with lower costs.
  3. Return Migration: Involves the return of the population to emigration areas.
  4. Habitual Movements: Daily displacements between the place of residence and work or leisure.

Consequences of Current Internal Migration

  • Labor migration: Increases demographic and economic imbalances between regions.
  • Residential migration: Causes aging of central urban areas.
  • Return migration: Causes over-aging in the areas of origin.
  • Habitual movements: Cause traffic problems in access to major cities.