Immigration to Spain

Immigration to Spain by country (2008)

As of 2015, there were over 4.5 million foreign-born residents in Spain, corresponding to 10% of the total population. Of these, 4.1 million (8.9% of the total population) were born outside the European Union and 2.3 million (5.1%) were born in another EU Member State.^[1]

Because of its location in the Iberian Peninsula, the Canary islands and two exclaves in Northern Africa, the territory comprising modern Spain has always been at the crossroads of human migration, having harboured many waves of historical immigration. The Spanish Empire, one of the first global empires and one of the largest in the world, spanned all inhabited continents and throughout the years people from these lands emigrated to Spain in varying numbers.

In migration terms and after centuries of net emigration, Spain has recently experienced large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history. According to the Spanish government, there were 5,598,691 foreign residents in January 2010.^[2] Of these, well over one million and a half were from Latin America (especially from Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil), three quarters of a million were Moroccan, while immigrants and expatriates from the European Union member states amounted more than two million (especially from Romania, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Bulgaria). Chinese are estimated to number 145,425, while South East Asian groups such as Filipinos—whose country was a former Spanish possession—created a small community in Spain. Immigrants from several sub-Saharan African countries have also settled in Spain as contract workers, although they represent only 4.08% of all the foreign residents in the country.

The population of Spain doubled during the 20th century due to the spectacular demographic boom in the 1960s and early 1970s. The birth rate then plunged by the 1980s, and Spain's population became stagnant, its demographics showing one of the lowest sub-replacement fertility rate in the world..

During the early 21st century, the average year-on-year demographic growth set a new record with its 2003 peak variation of 2.1%, doubling the previous record reached back in the 1960s when a mean year on year growth of 1% was experienced.^[3] This trend is far from being reversed at the present moment and, in 2005 alone, the immigrant population of Spain increased by 700,000 people.^[4]

Currently

Foreign population in Spain[5][6]
Year	Population	% total
1981	198,042	0.52%
1986	241,971	0.63%
1991	360,655	0.91%
1996	542,314	1.37%
1998	637,085	1.60%
2000	923,879	2.28%
2001	1,370,657	3.33%
2002	1,977,946	4.73%
2003	2,664,168	6.24%
2004	3,034,326	7.02%
2005	3,730,610	8.46%
2006	4,144,166	9.27%
2007	4,519,554	10.0%
2008	5,220,600	11.3%
2009	5,598,691	12.0%
2010	5,708,940	12.2%
2011	5,730,667	12.2%
2012	5,520,133	11.7%
2013	5,072,680	10.9%
2014	4,676,022	10.1%

According to the Spanish government, there were 5.6 million foreign residents in Spain in 2010; independent estimates put the figure 14% of total population (Red Cross, World Disasters Report 2006). According to the official 2011 census data, almost 800,000 were Romanian, 774,000 were Moroccan, 317,000 were Ecuadorian, 312,000 were British and 250,000 were Colombian . Other important foreign communities are Bolivian (4.1%), German (3.4%), Italian (3.1%), Bulgarian (2.9%), Chinese (2.6%) and Argentine (2.5%). In 2005, a regularization programme increased the legal immigrant population by 700,000 people. Since 2000, Spain has experienced high population growth as a result of immigration flows, despite a birth rate that is only half of the replacement level. This sudden and ongoing inflow of immigrants, particularly those arriving clandestinely by sea, has caused noticeable social tensions.

According to Eurostat, in 2010, there were 6.4 million foreign-born residents in Spain, corresponding to 14.0% of the total population. Of these, 4.1 million (8.9%) were born outside the EU and 2.3 million (5.1%) were born in another EU Member State.^[7]

As of 2005 Spain had the second highest immigration rates within the EU, just after Cyprus, and the second highest absolute net migration in the World (after the USA).^[8] This can be explained by a number of reasons including its geographical position, the porosity of its borders, the large size of its underground economy and the strength of the agricultural and construction sectors which demand more low cost labour than can be offered by the national workforce. In fact, booming Spain was Europe's largest absorber of migrants from 2002 to 2007, with its immigrant population more than doubling as 2.5 million people arrived.

Over 920,000 immigrants arrived in Spain during 2007, on top of the 802,971 new arrivals in 2006, 682,711 new arrivals in 2005, and 645,844 new arrivals in 2004.^[9]

Impact of immigration on the Spanish population pyramid

Although the number of immigrants in Spain, officially, is smaller than that of other countries in the EU, the following data should be taken into consideration:

• Immigrants from countries belonging to the former Spanish Empire (mainly in Central and South America–Latin America–, Asia–the Philippines– and Africa–Equatorial Guinea and Western Sahara–) can obtain Spanish nationality after legal and continuous residence of 2 years in Spain, after which naturalized citizens are no longer counted as immigrants.
• In order to avoid statelessness, Spain automatically grants Spanish nationality to the children of immigrants born in Spain whose parents' nationality of origin is not transferred jus sanguinis upon their child's birth abroad. Unlike other countries of the EU that do not do it. It is for this reason that although the Latin American immigrants of origin are most numerous, the Romanians or the Moroccans surpassed them in the official statistics.

In the same way the majority of children born in Spain between 2000 and 2010 are children of immigrants despite not counting as such. Considering these data, there are sectors of Spanish society who oppose immigration that affirm the real number of immigrants in Spain is 10–11 million, or about 25% of the total population.

As for other nationalities than Spanish speaking, in order to stay in Spain for more than 3 months, it's required a residence card, residence visa or work permit.^[10]

Immigrants from the European Union

Immigrants from the European Union make up a growing proportion of immigrants in Spain. The main countries of origin are Romania, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and Bulgaria.

The British authorities estimate that the real population of UK citizens living in Spain is much bigger than Spanish official figures suggest, establishing them at about 1,000,000, about 800,000 being permanent residents.^[11] Of these, according to the BBC and contrary to popular belief, only about 21.5% are over the age of 65.^[12]

In fact, according to the Financial Times, Spain is the most favoured destination for West Europeans considering to move from their own country and seek jobs elsewhere in the EU.^[13]

Major immigration

European Union member states are indicated with the EU flag in regional European sub-divisions.

Origin	2014	2011	2007	2006	2001	Growth 2001–2011	% Change	Article
Romania	730,340	798,104	527,019	407,159	31,641	766,463	+2,522%	Romanians in Spain
Morocco	714,221	769,920	582,923	563,012	233,415	536,505	+230%	Moroccans in Spain
United Kingdom	311,774	390,880	314,951	274,722	107,326	283,554	+264%	British migration to Spain
Ecuador	212,970	359,076	427,099	461,310	139,022	220,054	+158%	Ecuadorians in Spain
Colombia	172,368	271,773	261,542	265,141	87,209	184,564	+212%	Colombians in Spain
Bolivia	126,421	197,895	200,496	139,802	6,619	191,276	+2,890%	-
Germany	149,522	195,842	164,405	150,490	99,217	96,625	+97%	-
Italy	182,249	187,847	135,108	115,791	34,689	153,158	+441%	-
Bulgaria	140,206	172,634	122,057	101,617	12,035	160,599	+1,334%	Bulgarians in Spain
China	164,555	166,223	106,652	104,681	27,574	138,649	+503%	Chinese people in Spain
Portugal	109,568	140,706	100,616	80,635	47,064	93,642	+199%	-
Peru	83,583	131,886	103,650	95,903	34,975	96,911	+277%	Peruvians in Spain
France	100,448	122,385	100,408	90,021	51,582	70,803	+137%	-
Argentina	80,910	120,012	141,159	150,252	32,429	87,583	+270%	Argentines in Spain
Brazil	63,365	106,908	90,161	72,441	17,078	89,830	+526%	-
Dominican Republic	77,280	90,612	65,119	61,071	31,153	59,459	+191%	-
Paraguay	55,524	87,406	46,238	28,587	928	86,478	+9,319%	Paraguayans in Spain
Ukraine	81,625	85,913	69,983	69,893	10,318	75,595	+733%	-
Poland	70,606	85,862	61,464	45,797	13,469	72,393	+537%	Poles in Spain
Pakistan	55,452	69,841	42,105	42,138	8,274	61,567	+744%	Pakistanis in Spain
Senegal	51,046	63,248	36,955	35,079	10,627	52,621	+495%	-
Algeria	56,282	60,538	45,813	47,079	18,265	42,273	+231%	-
Venezuela	44,290	59,453	51,481	51,261	16,549	42,904	+259%	Venezuelans in Spain
Netherlands	46,914	54,424	44,398	39,484	23,146	31,278	+135%	-
Cuba	49,992	54,406	45,698	44,739	24,534	29,872	+122%	-
Philippines	30,079	-	54,385	51,368	-	3,017	-	Filipinos in Spain
Russia	62,452	52,832	39,798	39,904	10,047	42,785	+426%	Russians in Spain
Nigeria	38,546	44,870	32,119	31,588	7,598	37,272	+490%	-
Uruguay	28,437	42,581	46,069	45,508	6,828	35,753	+524%	Uruguayans in Spain
Chile	27,064	41,712	40,844	39,704	11,674	30,038	+257%	-
Belgium	31,128	35,876	31,412	29,526	19,869	16,007	+80%	-
TOTAL	4,676,022	5,730,667	4,519,554	4,144,166	1,370,657	4,360,010	+318%

• (2007dates)
• 2011: INE
• (2013dates)

From other countries – Europe

European Union member states are indicated with the EU flag in regional European sub-divisions.

Origin	2007	2006
Albania	1,353	1,316
Andorra	1,022	1,075
Austria	8,651	7,776
Belarus	3,135	3,262
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1,659	1,827
Croatia	1,649	1,788
Cyprus	146	130
Czech Republic	6,423	5,160
Denmark	10,906	9,977
Estonia	984	784
Finland	9,990	9,313
Greece	3,567	3,027
Hungary	4,597	3,344
Iceland	1,083	920
Ireland	13,279	11,495
Latvia	2,128	1,741
Liechtenstein	48	117
Lithuania	18,528	15,200
Luxembourg	562	1,336
Macedonia	407	440
Malta	152	129
Moldova	12,801	11,330
Norway	15,630	14,154
Serbia	3,133	3,474
Slovakia	5,999	4,515
Slovenia	799	619
Sweden	20,058	18,096
Switzerland	16,361	15,385
Rest of European countries	66	83
TOTAL EUROPE	1,895,727	1,609,856

From other countries – Africa

Origin	2007	2006	Article
Angola	2,114	3,698
Cape Verde	2,998	3,611
Cameroon	4,029	3,955
Republic of the Congo	1,801	1,888
Ivory Coast	1,636	1,759
Egypt	2,566	3,634	Egyptians in Spain
Gambia	17,393	13,627
Ghana	12,699	13,133
Guinea	9,159	9,901
Equatorial Guinea	13,129	19,456	Spanish Equatoguineans
Guinea-Bissau	5,229	5,274
Liberia	581	1,167
Mali	17,094	14,497
Mauritania	9,271	9,308
DR Congo	1,008	1,548
Sierra Leone	989	1,487
South Africa	704	2,086
Tunisia	1,544	2,194	Tunisians in Spain
Rest of African countries	5,041	8,679
TOTAL	806.795

• Source:

From other countries – Central America

Origin	2007	2006
Costa Rica	1,320	2,373
El Salvador	3,795	5,102
Guatemala	2,417	4,321
Honduras	14,253	10,652
Nicaragua	4,547	4,204
Panama	1,794	3,520
Rest of Central America countries	1,002	2,517
TOTAL	139.945

From other countries – North America

Origin	2007	2006
Canada	2,419	5,420
United States	22,082	32,626
Mexico	21,107	40,574
TOTAL	45.608

From other countries – Asia

Origin	2007	2006	Article
Armenia	9,582	9,365	Armenians in Spain
Georgia	7,355	6,284
Philippines	54,385	51,368	Filipinos in Spain
South Korea	22,465	13,144	Koreans in Spain
India	21,296	23,296
Bangladesh	6,480	6,130
Iran	12,334	4,568	Iranians in Spain
Iraq	880	1,706	Iraqi people in Spain
Israel	1,713	2,427
Japan	11,636	7,684	Japanese Spaniards
Jordan	1,088	2,082	Jordanian people in Spain
Lebanon	6,250	2,750	Lebanese people in Spain
Syria	6,129	4,575	Syrian people in Spain
Turkey	1,758	1,656	Turks in Spain
Rest of Asian countries	6,430	2,517
TOTAL	219.843

From other countries – Oceania

Origin	2007	2006
Australia	1,455	5,131
New Zealand	301	298
Rest of Oceanian countries	494	1,099
TOTAL	2.271

Comparison with other countries from European Union

According to Eurostat 47.3 million people lived in the European Union in 2010 who were born outside their resident country. This corresponds to 9.4% of the total EU population. Of these, 31.4 million (6.3%) were born outside the EU and 16.0 million (3.2%) were born in another EU member state. The largest absolute numbers of people born outside the EU were in Germany (6.4 million), France (5.1 million), the United Kingdom (4.7 million), Spain (4.1 million), Italy (3.2 million), and the Netherlands (1.4 million).^[14]

Country	Total population (millions)	Total Foreign-born (millions)	%	Born in other EU state (millions)	%	Born in a non EU state (millions)	%
Germany	81.802	9.812	12.0	3.396	4.2	6.415	7.8
France	64.716	7.196	11.1	2.118	3.3	5.078	7.8
United Kingdom	62.008	7.012	11.3	2.245	3.6	4.767	7.7
Spain	46.000	6.422	12.0	2.328	5.1	4.094	8.9
Italy	61.000	4.798	8.5	1.592	2.6	3.205	5.3
Netherlands	16.575	1.832	11.1	0.428	2.6	1.404	8.5
Greece	11.305	1.256	11.1	0.315	2.8	0.940	8.3
Sweden	9.340	1.337	14.3	0.477	5.1	0.859	9.2
Austria	8.367	1.276	15.2	0.512	6.1	0.764	9.1
Belgium	10.666	1.380	12.9	0.695	6.5	0.685	6.4
Portugal	10.637	0.793	7.5	0.191	1.8	0.602	5.7
Denmark	5.534	0.500	9.0	0.152	2.8	0.348	6.3
EU 27	501.098	47.348	9.4	15.980	3.2	31.368	6.3

Irregular migration

Irregular migration to Spain is the act of foreign nationals entering Spain, without government permission and in violation of the given nationality law, or staying beyond the termination date of a visa, also in violation of the law.

In order to deal with the overwhelming numbers of illegal immigrants the government has initiated an amnesty in 2005 to reduce the problem. Some critics believe this will only encourage Chain migration.^{[15][16][17][18]}

See also

• Immigration to Europe
• List of countries by immigrant population
• List of sovereign states and dependent territories by fertility rate

References

1. 6.5% of the EU population are foreigners and 9.4% are , Eurostat, Katya VASILEVA, 34/2011.
2. 5,598,691 foreign population in Spain (2009), Spanish National Statitistic Institute press report, INE (Spain). June 3, 2009. (Spanish)
3. Official report on Spanish recent Macroeconomics, including data and comments on immigration. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-11-14.
4. Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Evolution of the foreign population in Spain since 1998
5. Fuente: para los años 1981, 1986 y 1991, los datos se refieren tan sólo a extranjeros con permiso de residencia a 31 de diciembre y proceden del Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales, citado en (tomando, para el porcentaje de 1986, la población española de hecho según la estimación intercensal del INE para el 1 de julio ). Para los datos de 1996 y posteriores, todos los datos proceden del INE
6. For 2013 and 2014
7. 6.5% of the EU population are foreigners and 9.4% are born abroad, Eurostat, Katya VASILEVA, 34/2011.
8. Eurostat – Population in Europe in 2005. (PDF) . Retrieved on 2011-11-14.
9. Kern, Soeren (2009-05-13), "Immigration Policy a Casualty of Unemployment in Spain", World Politics Review, retrieved 2009-06-29
10. Zelmenis, Artis (2013-09-11), "Spanish Immigration Policy", Baltic Legal
12. Special Reports | Brits Abroad. BBC News. Retrieved on 2011-11-14.
13. News.bg – Europeans Favour Spain for Expat Jobs. International.ibox.bg. Retrieved on 2011-11-14.
14. 6.5% of the EU population are foreigners and 9.4% are born abroad, Eurostat, Katya VASILEVA, 34/2011.
15. "Spain Helping Mauritania Slow Illegal Immigration". Voice of America. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
16. "Spain, Like U.S., Grapples With Immigration". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
17. "Spain sees significant drop in illegal immigrants in 2009". Xinhuanet. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
18. Katya Adler, "Spain stands by immigrant amnesty," BBC (25 May 2005). Retrieved 29-10-2013.

External links

• ASESER Teranga: Asociación de Inmigrantes Senegaleses Residentes en A Coruña