By Melissa Cook Wise
Immigration to Spain is at an all-time high as refugees around the world look for a place to call home.
As of 2014, there were over 5,023,487 foreign-born people in Spain, making up 10.7 percent of the total population. While many appreciate the opportunity for a new life, the overwhelming number of immigrants entering the country have caused a bottle neck effect and Spain is having a hard time supporting the influx of people migrating into the nation.
Overview of Immigration
In centuries past Spain experienced net emigration as citizens left and traveled to other countries in Europe. Beginning in 1998, Spain experienced a large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history. At that time, immigrants only accounted for 3 percent of the total population, and just ten years later the share jumped to 13%. This lead to Spain having one of the highest immigrant populations in Europe with the two largest groups being Romanians and Moroccans. As of 2015 these two groups made up almost a third of the foreign population with a combined 1.4 million migrants.
Spain has however experienced large immigration in the past. In the city of Sevilla a large group of Muslims helped to settle the area along with Catholics, the two created and shared a church together that is standing to this day.
“This building is such a beautiful representation of how to religions can come together,” said tour guide Antonia Sanchez Saavedra, “the Spanish people are always open to new cultures and accepting of people into our country.”
How is it affecting Spain
While the government has been very willing to allow so many into the country, the limitations of the work force are becoming ever more transparent.
Spain is now transitioning into a second phase of immigration, meaning that current immigrants are now stabilizing in their permanent resident status. Eight out of 10 non-EU immigrants without Spanish nationality have permanent leave to remain, according to figures published by the OPI immigration observatory.
With so many immigrants staying and with unemployment rates so high there is keen competition for jobs.
Mario Lopez is a native to Madrid and has lived there all his life. He is a proud father of two children who are now entering the work force and he is worried.
“Life has become hard for my children as a result of all the immigration,” he said. “They have to work harder for jobs and to find good housing. Because there are so many immigrants there are not enough jobs, those communities then resort to prostitution, drugs, and thievery and the area becomes dangerous.”
While Lopez is more than willing to keep immigration as it is, he thinks that the government simply can’t keep up with all the people they are allowing in.
It isn’t just the lives of Spaniards that are becoming increasingly difficult. For all of the immigrants who come to the country there is just as much competition for jobs, and even more of a stigma for the Spaniard employers who are hiring.
Many immigrants despite having the education for higher jobs are forced to take low paying jobs in restaurants, retail, or even in selling cheap handbags on the side of the street.
Magnolia D’jardi immigrated to Spain in 1972. Originally from Africa she came here as a refugee because of persecution. When she arrived she applied to careers she had worked in previously but was unable to be hired.
“I came here with a full degree from my country but because of the law I wasn’t able to practice it,” she said.
D’jardi felt she had no choice but to become a prostitute. With tears in her eyes she told stories of the unbearable years where she learned to live day to day.
It was only in recent years that she was given a full-time job at a bank and able to leave the streets to support herself.
D’jardi hopes that the law will continue to change, so that as people come here they will have better options.
“My hope is that immigration can change so that no one will have to endure what I had to,” she said.
However, there are many more success stories of immigrants and their now native children. Mario Munez is a second generation immigrant who feels like a Spaniard through and through. His parents who were originally from Germany migrated to Spain when he was just a baby. Munez grew up in Spain and plans to never leave. He is grateful for the immigration policies and feels like he is a proud success story.
“My parents came here not knowing the language or the people, but Spain welcomed them and I am a Spanish citizen because of it,” he said.
Munez thinks that Spain has made immigrating an easy process and feels many agree with him. He says that the fact there are so many immigrants flourishing here is a direct result of a great visa process and is why more continue to come everyday.
Conclusion
Immigration is one of the most amazing and complex parts about Spain. Allowing so many in has helped to develop the country further and enhance its rich heritage.
Government officials are continually trying to help accommodate more and more people each day, whether it be a natural born citizen or a newly legalized one. One thing however is certain about the Spanish people, they are proud of who they are, they love where they live, and they strive to make it better each day. With so much changing in the world it will be amazing to see how the country continues to adapt to the needs of the people, and how it will advance further.
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