Latin American migration to Spain

As of January 2021, there are 2,480,373 South Americans in Spain (all bar 391 being Latin Americans) and 624,034 Central American or Caribbean people in Spain (all bar at most 60,505 being Latin Americans).[1] Flows of migration have been dependent on the economic conditions in their countries of birth and in Spain.

History

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Many Latin Americans came to Spain during the country's economic boom in the late 1990s and beginning of the new millennium. The financial crisis that began in 2007 resulted in many leaving: some used acquired Spanish passports to work in northern Europe, while others moved to the United States.[2] Trigger events that served as a push factor from Latin America included the 1998–1999 Ecuador economic crisis[3] and the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression,[4] while Venezuelans are as of 2021 the nationality applying most for asylum in Spain, due to the country's crisis.[5][6] Migration fell again in 2020 due to a lack of long-distance flights because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

While ten years is the usual minimum for a foreigner to acquire Spanish nationality by residency, Latin Americans – including Brazilians – can achieve it in two years.[8]

Economics

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Nativo, a company set up in 1997 to import Latin American brands to migrants in Spain, was bought in 2008 by Goya Foods, a US-based multinational active across the American continent.[9]

Demographics

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As of 2018, 610,871 residents of Madrid were born in Latin America.[2] Migrants from Brazil – the sole Portuguese-speaking country in Latin America – are particularly notable in Galicia, where the native language is close to their own.[10][11][12]

By country of birth

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Ecuadorian independence day celebrations in Madrid

Per Instituto Nacional de Estadística, 1 January 2021:[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Población residente por fecha, sexo, grupo de edad y país de nacimiento" [Resident population by date, sex, age group and country of birth] (in Spanish). Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b O'Kuinghttons, Úrsula; Villarruel, Patricia (21 January 2018). "Veinte años del 'boom' de la inmigración latinoamericana" [Twenty years of the 'boom' of Latin American immigration]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  3. ^ Tomalá Parrales, Miguel Ángel. "El proceso migratorio en el Ecuador después de la crisis económica-financiera de 1998-1999. Un análisis histórico descriptivo" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 December 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Andrade, Marina. "La inmigración de argentinos en España a partir de 2001" (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 December 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ Romero-Castillo, Evan (27 August 2018). "Asilo: Venezuela-España, odisea sin retorno" [Asylum: Venezuela-Spain, one-way odyssey] (in Spanish). Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Comunidad venezolana en España, principal solicitante de protección internacional" [Venezuelan community in Spain, top requesters for international protection] (in Spanish). Voz de América. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  7. ^ Kuhs, Jordi (13 July 2020). "La COVID-19 ha frenado la inmigración latinoamericana a España, pero volverá" [COVID-19 has put the brakes on Latin American immigration to Spain, but it will return]. La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Adquisición de la nacionalidad española" [Acquisition of Spanish nationality] (in Spanish). Embassy of Spain in Brazil. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  9. ^ Varela, Pepe (16 August 2008). "El negocio de la añoranza" [The homesickness industry]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  10. ^ dos Reis Silva, Lucas. "Trabajo Fin de Máster: Proyecto migratorio e identidad. Inmigración brasileña en A Coruña" (PDF) (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 December 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ "Portugal, Rumanía y Brasil, origen de la mayoría de los inmigrantes" [Portugal, Romania and Brazil, origin of the majority of immigrants]. El Correo Gallego (in Spanish). 3 January 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  12. ^ Solé, Carlota; Cavalcanti, Leonardo; Parella, Sònia. "La inmigración brasileña en la estructura socioeconómica de España" (PDF) (in Spanish). Ministry of Work and Immigration. Retrieved 11 December 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)