Spanish Immigration Crisis

The Spanish Immigration Crisis

Undoubtedly, migration and global movement have become more prominent in today's world than ever before. In just the last 15 years, there have been approximately 38 million people alone who have moved from 3rd world countries to Western countries (Immigration in Spain). Spain has been a heavy recipient of this growing migration trend, a result of Spain's dynamic growth over the last decade or so. A promise of financial success and stability that was spurred by the Spanish construction boom of the 2000's contributed significantly to this influx of immigrants to Spain. From 2000 through 2011, the breakdown by region of the foreign immigrants is as follows: Central and South America (36.2%), Western Europe (21.1%), Eastern Europe (17.8%), North Africa (14.8%), Sub-Saharan Africa (4.1%), and Other (4.7%) (Immigration in Spain). According to the CIA World Fact Book, Spain's 5.2% Net Migration Rate is the 19th highest in the world, meaning the country is bringing in more foreigners than are leaving the country at quite a high clip. As evidenced, Spain has become an immigration hub globally, and consequently, the immigrants have definitely had a major impact, good and bad, on the culture and economy of Spain. Unfortunately for Spain, specifically for its native citizens, this immigration boom has not proven that beneficial.

Comprised of a robust 895,970 people, the largest group of immigrants to Spain is far and away Romanians (Immigrants in Spain). Just as recently as 2000, the Romanian population in Spain was 6,410, representing a 13,000% increase to what the Romanian immigrant population is in Spain today. After an era of communism and bloodshed in pursuit of freedom, the democracy that Romanians were yearning for was transformed into a corrupted society and a semi-democracy that finally ended with a massive migration to the first world countries such as Spain (Rancu and Oana). The poverty situation and the economic problems they had in their own country made them follow the "European dream" for a better living. What was the main destination? Spain. For Romanians, the appeal of higher wages, similarities in languages, and the Romanians' Latin background all drew the aspiring immigrants to Spain of all countries. Due to the highly rural economic foundation of Romania, most of the immigrants to Spain were low-skilled and uneducated workers. Despite this lack of education and professional savvy, Romanians are very hard working, and that can be seen in Romania's national work productivity relative to other countries (Lewis). Spain, on the other hand, suffers from a laissez-faire culture, evidenced in a microcosm by the "siesta" that occurs daily. As a result, many Spanish employers were more than happy to hire Romanians who could bring a high level of motivation and a strong work ethic to work every day.

Although