Spanish Emigration: History and Impact
Migration is critical to understanding real population growth. Emigration refers to the departure of people from their place of origin. The arrival of a population to a destination (immigration) promotes natural growth, increasing the birth rate and reducing mortality. The balance of emigration and immigration is called the net migration.
Spanish population mobility has been significant, with movements to other countries in Africa, America, and Europe. More recently, internal migration within Spain, from one region to another or from rural to urban areas, has also been notable.
The reasons that motivate people to move can be very different, but they often relate to a socioeconomic context. Generally, there is an economic motivation: the search for employment elsewhere to improve economic conditions and, consequently, quality of life and social welfare. Each stage of migration has its own characteristics in terms of social, economic, or political influences.
In the history of Spain, migration can be broken down into three main sections:
1. External Migration
Migration to North Africa
Migration to North Africa was important during the 19th century. The main destination country was Algeria. Migrants came from the provinces of Alicante, Murcia, and Almeria. They were farmers and miners who left their homeland because of harsh living conditions. The Spanish in Algeria primarily worked in public works and agriculture.
Overseas Migration
Overseas migration was significant during the first half of the 20th century. Destination countries included Argentina, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay, and later, the U.S. and Canada. It was primarily undertaken by peasants from Galicia, Asturias, and the Canary Islands with limited resources. Emigration to America continued until the 1930s, when the economic crisis forced these countries to place restrictions on foreign entry.
Migration to Europe
Migration to Europe was very important between 1960 and 1970.
During the first half of the 20th century, Spanish emigration to Europe was almost exclusively to France. It consisted of Levantine farmers who came to meet the manpower needs of the French countryside. This flow increased with Spaniards who were forced to emigrate because of the Civil War. The Spanish presence in France at the beginning of World War II is estimated at around 800,000 people.
The end of the Second World War and the reconstruction period that began in the affected countries marked a new phase in Spanish emigration to Europe. The need for manpower in countries like France, Germany, and Switzerland, together with the surplus population and poor economic and social conditions in Spain, were the factors that prompted new waves of migrants to Europe.
The decade of 1960-1969 saw a large number of departures, exceeding 100,000 immigrants in some years. Since 1974, the outflow of migrants has been much weaker, with the result that net migration from then on has been negative or barely positive.
In this migration to Europe, the most significant contributing communities were Andalusia and Galicia.
Consequences of External Migration
Positive Effects:
- Reduced pressure on the labor market: Emigration eased the size of the unemployed population.
- Alleviation of population pressure: An estimated two million people left, which helped to reduce fertility rates.
- Foreign exchange earnings.
Negative Impacts:
- Demographic costs: The loss of the young population in migration regions caused population aging and declining fertility.
- Social costs: Family breakdown occurred in most cases, as often only the head of household migrated. There were also difficulties adapting to the destination country due to the low cultural level of some immigrants, and employment was often in hard, poorly paid, and high-risk jobs.
- Lack of reinvestment: The savings of the migrants did not serve to regenerate wealth, as they were invested primarily in real estate or spent on consumer goods.
- Economic costs: These became evident in the depopulation of the areas of origin, with the consequent abandonment of land and infrastructure, declining populations, etc.