Latin American migration to Spain

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

Contents

History

Many Latin Americans immigrated to Spain during the country's economic boom in the late 1990s and beginning of the 2000s. Events during this period that pushed Latin Americans to immigrate included the 1998–1999 Ecuador economic crisis [3] [4] and the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression. [5]

Venezuelan migration to Spain surged as a result of the country's ongoing crisis; as of 2021, Venezuelans constituted the single largest nationality applying for asylum in the country. [6] [7] Migration decreased in 2020 due to reduced long-distance flights during the COVID-19 pandemic. [8]

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. [9]

Economics

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. [10]

Demographics

Colombian migrants in Spain are the largest group of Latin Americans in the country. [2] As of 2018, 610,871 residents of Madrid were born in Latin America. [11] 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. [12] [13] [14]

By country of birth

Ecuadorian independence day celebrations in Madrid Ecuador celebra junto a Madrid su independencia.jpg
Ecuadorian independence day celebrations in Madrid

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

See also

Related Research Articles

Asian Latin Americans are Latin Americans of Asian descent. Asian immigrants to Latin America have largely been from East Asia or West Asia. Historically, Asians in Latin America have a centuries-long history in the region, starting with Filipinos in the 16th century. The peak of Asian immigration occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries. There are currently more than four million Asian Latin Americans, nearly 1% of Latin America's population. Chinese, Japanese, and Lebanese are the largest Asian ancestries; other major ethnic groups include Filipinos, Syrians, Koreans and Indians, many of whom are Indo-Caribbean and came from neighboring countries in the Caribbean and the Guianas. Brazil is home to the largest population of East Asian descent, estimated at 2.08 million. The country is also home to a large percentage of West Asian descendants. With as much as 5% of their population having some degree of Chinese ancestry, Peru and Mexico have the highest ratio of any country for East Asian descent. Though the most recent official census, which relied on self-identification, gave a much lower percentage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Spain</span> Ethnic group

Immigration to Spain increased significantly in the beginning of the 21st century. In 1998, immigrants accounted for 1.6% of the population, and by 2009, that number had risen to over 12%. Until 2014, the numbers were decreasing due to the economic crisis, but since 2015, immigration to Spain has increased again, especially after 2021.

Emigration from Colombia is a migratory phenomenon that started in the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Colombia</span>

Immigration to Colombia during the early 19th and late 20th Century, is what makes it one of the most diverse countries in the world, above other countries in the Latin region. Colombia inherited from the Spanish Empire harsh rules against immigration, first in the Viceroyalty of New Granada and later in the Colombian Republic. The Constituent Assembly of Colombia and the subsequent reforms to the national constitution were much more open to the immigrants and the economic aperture. However naturalization of foreigners, with the exception of those children of Colombians born abroad, it is still difficult to acquire due 'Jus soli' law is not allowed by the government, and only 'Jus sanguinis' law is accepted. Immigration in Colombia is managed by the "Migración Colombia" agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venezuelans</span> Citizens or residents of Venezuela

Venezuelans are the citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connections exist and are the source of their Venezuelan citizenship or their bond to Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Colombia</span>

The demographics of Colombia consist of statistics regarding Colombians' health, economic status, religious affiliations, ethnicity, population density, and other aspects of the population. Colombia is the second-most populous country in South America after Brazil, and the third-most populous in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico.

African immigrants to Latin America include citizens and residents of countries in Latin America who were born in, or with recent ancestors from Africa. This excludes descendants of people who were forcibly transported to the Americas through the Atlantic slave trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Uruguay</span>

Immigration to Uruguay began in several millennia BCE with the arrival of different populations from Asia to the Americas through Beringia, according to the most accepted theories, and were slowly populating the Americas. The most recent waves of immigrants started with the arrival of Spaniards in the 16th century, during the colonial period, to what was then known as the Banda Oriental.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spain–Venezuela relations</span> Bilateral relations

Spain–Venezuelan relations are the bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Spain and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Both nations are members of the Association of Spanish Language Academies and the Organization of Ibero-American States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentines in Spain</span> Immigration from Argentina to Spain

Argentines in Spain are the largest community of Argentines abroad. In Spain, they represent one of the largest immigrant groups in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venezuelan refugee crisis</span> Emigration of millions of Venezuelans during the Bolivarian Revolution

The Venezuelan refugee crisis, the largest recorded refugee crisis in the Americas, refers to the emigration of millions of Venezuelans from their native country during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro since the Bolivarian Revolution. The revolution was an attempt by Chávez and later Maduro to establish a cultural and political hegemony, which culminated in the crisis in Venezuela. The resulting refugee crisis has been compared to those faced by Cuban exiles, Syrian refugees and those affected by the European migrant crisis. The Bolivarian government has denied any migratory crisis, stating that the United Nations and others are attempting to justify foreign intervention within Venezuela.

At the 2011 census, the number of immigrants in Costa Rica totaled about 390,000 individuals, or about 9% of the country's population. Following a considerable drop from 1950 through 1980, immigration to Costa Rica has increased in recent decades.

Latin American migration to Europe is the diaspora of Latin Americans to the continent of Europe, dating back to the first decades of the Spanish and Portuguese empires in the Americas. Latin Americans in Europe are now a rapidly growing group consisting of immigrants from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela. It may also include individuals from certain French-speaking territories depending on the definition of Latin America used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venezuelan diaspora</span> Venezuelans living outside Venezuela

The Venezuelan diaspora refers to Venezuelan citizens living outside Venezuela. In times of economic and political crisis since the 2010s, Venezuelans have often fled to other countries in the Americas and beyond to establish a more sustainable life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guinea–Spain relations</span> Bilateral relations

Guinea–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Guinea has an embassy in Madrid and honorary consulate in Barcelona, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Valencia. Spain has an embassy in Conakry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argentina–Venezuela relations</span> Bilateral relations

Diplomatic relations between the Argentine Republic and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela have existed for decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venezuelan Argentines</span> Argentine citizens of Venezuelan descent

Venezuelan Argentines are Argentine citizens of predominantly or total Venezuelan descent, or Venezuelan citizens who have migrated to and settled in Argentina. As of 2022, there are 272,000 Venezuelans living in Argentina, most of whom migrated during the latter half of the 2010s as part of the Venezuelan refugee crisis. The last census held in Argentina, in 2010, registered only 6,000 Venezuelan migrants living in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madrid Forum</span> Anti-communist organization

The Madrid Forum is an anti-communist organization created on 26 October 2020 by the Disenso Foundation think tank of the conservative Spanish political party Vox.

References

  1. 1 2 "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. 1 2 Rosati, Sara (2018-03-20). "Latinos in Spain: Finding the delicate balance between two identities". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  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. Gabrielli, Lorenzo (July 2015). "Corridor Report on Spain: the case of Ecuadorian and Moroccan immigrants" (PDF). GRITIM – Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  5. 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)
  6. 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.
  7. "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.
  8. 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.
  9. "Adquisición de la nacionalidad española" [Acquisition of Spanish nationality] (in Spanish). Embassy of Spain in Brazil. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  10. Varela, Pepe (16 August 2008). "El negocio de la añoranza" [The homesickness industry]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  11. 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.
  12. 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)
  13. "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.
  14. 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)