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Immigration and Immigration Policies in Spain

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Migration in an Era of Restriction and Recession

Part of the book series: Immigrants and Minorities, Politics and Policy ((IMPP))

Abstract

A question that often emerges in migration studies is why, even with rising levels of migration, Spain has seen low levels of ethnic conflict. Research offers several explanations for this phenomenon, but a large factor is that many of the immigrants are Latin American and are seen as having a shared cultural background with Spaniards. However, the chapter finds that the demographic composition of immigrants to Spain is not the product of chance, but rather reflects a calculated set of policies put in place that favor (either implicitly or explicitly) immigrants from Latin America. These policies are progressive in comparison with other OECD countries, tolerant of undocumented migrations, biased in favor of Latin Americans, and shaped by the EU’s progressive immigration policies. Starting by tracing the demographic profile of immigrants, this chapter then discusses the current state of immigration policy in Spain and how policy was used to create a specific demographic mix of immigrants. Finally, the author argues that due to the current economic crisis, Spain is moving towards more restrictive policies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Calculated by subtracting naturalized foreigners from the number of citizens born abroad.

  2. 2.

    Surveys conducted by the Spanish Ministry of Home Affairs among Muslim resident population (which includes Spanish Muslims) show the existence of a resilient 17 % with high levels of rejection towards the mainstream society (MIR 2010b).

  3. 3.

    Spanish naturalization law does not automatically grant citizenship to those born on Spanish soil. Most of these children will eventually obtain citizenship by residence if they stay in the country (they are, in fact, a privileged category in legislation) but the process can take some years, particularly in the case of the children of irregular migrants (Álvarez Rodríguez et al. 2006).

  4. 4.

    These figures are created after having corrected an important distortion in the statistics: there are 89,469 Argentinians of Italian descent computed as Italians in the statistics (INE 2009a).

  5. 5.

    This is consistently shown by opinion surveys: only 41 % of them claimed to have an intense religious life, and around an 80 % considered themselves adapted to the Spanish culture (MIR 2010b).

  6. 6.

    Sistema Integrado de Vigilancia Exterior (SIVE), operated by the Spanish Civil Guard.

  7. 7.

    Figure calculated by combining data from the PM and the National Immigrant Survey 2007.

  8. 8.

    Royal Decree 240/2007.

  9. 9.

    Council Regulation (EC) 539/2001, as amended by Regulation (EC) 2414/2001.

  10. 10.

    Regulation (EC) 453/2003 and Regulation (EC) 1932/2006.

  11. 11.

    Immigration Organic Acts 14/2003 and 2/2009.

  12. 12.

    European Parliament Legislative Resolution of June 18, 2008.

  13. 13.

    The very few work permits that are issued for freshly arrived immigrants are short-term contracts that are restricted to certain sectors of activity. Once this first (or “initial”) permit has expired, the worker is then allowed to apply for a long-term work permit.

  14. 14.

    Meaning that these visa requirements were an exclusively national policy and did not involve the EU, as in those years previous to the Tampere summit there was no common EU immigration policy.

  15. 15.

    We use the term deportation in a general sense. From a legal point of view, Spanish legislation distinguishes between four kinds of legal ways to return unauthorized foreigners to their countries of origin: (1) Denial of entry: deportation by denying entry at customs (mainly ports and airports); (2) Readmission: deportation through agreements with third countries; (3) Devolution: deportation of people apprehended when trying to enter the country through other border points outside of official Spanish customs; and (4) Expulsion: deportation of irregular foreigners already residing in Spain for breaching the current Immigration Act 2/2009 or previous acts.

  16. 16.

    Royal Decree 511/1992.

  17. 17.

    This means that the workers were hired in their countries of origin, previous to their arrival to Spain.

  18. 18.

    In 2006, at the peak of the boom, there were only 16,878 jobs offered through the system.

  19. 19.

    This means that a judicial investigative procedure, possibly leading to the deportation of the migrant, has been initiated.

  20. 20.

    When an individual loses a job in Spain (provided it was a legal job, with a legal contract, and with employment for at least a year), the person is entitled to receive an unemployment allowance whose amount and length of time varies depending on the number of years worked and last salary. The minimum period of time is 4 months, and the maximum is 2 years. The amount is 70 % of the salary during the first 6 months, and 50 % for the rest of the time, with a monthly cap of 1087–1400 depending on the number of children who are dependents.

  21. 21.

    The Spanish Treasury (Ministerio de Hacienda) made 30 % more actions in search of company irregularities (such as tax evasion and hiring of workers without a contract).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology II, University of Alicante, Carretera San Vicente del Raspeig s/n, 03690, San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain

    Francisco Javier Ullán de la Rosa

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  1. Francisco Javier Ullán de la Rosa
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Correspondence to Francisco Javier Ullán de la Rosa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Government, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    David L. Leal

  2. Department of Sociology, The University of Texas at Austin, AUSTIN, Texas, USA

    Nestor P. Rodríguez

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Ullán de la Rosa, F.J. (2016). Immigration and Immigration Policies in Spain. In: Leal, D., Rodríguez, N. (eds) Migration in an Era of Restriction and Recession. Immigrants and Minorities, Politics and Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24445-7_10

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