Public perceptions of migration and migration policies: the Spanish case | Southern Europe | bpb.de

Spain has evolved at remarkable speed into one of the world’s leading destinations of international migration. Since the turn of the century, the number of foreign-born residents has quadrupled (cf. Fig. 1); including their offspring, approximately one fourth of the country’s inhabitants now have foreign origins. Overall population growth throughout this period, from 40 million to nearly 50 million, is plainly due to international migration. This profound demographic transformation occurred in two essential phases, the second of which is still ongoing. Immigration movements gained pace around the turn of the century amidst economic expansion, then stalled temporarily due to a severe recession (2008-2013) and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively, but have since 2022 recovered annual net volumes of half a million people or more.

Immigration to Spain is driven primarily by employment opportunities in sectors such as agriculture, construction, domestic service or hospitality; it is supported (some might say fanned) by policies that prioritize human rights and integration over border-control. International protection is sought by a minority of foreign-born newcomers; in 2015-2016, Spain was barely affected by the massive inflow of Middle Eastern refugees toward Europe. However, asylum requests have increased markedly in recent years from a low baseline, now ranking second only to Germany among EU members (Externer Link: based on the number of asylum claims lodged in the EU in 2024). Most are filed by Venezuelans and Columbians, and there are presently about 300.000 Ukrainians with temporary protection status. Overall, nearly half of Spain’s immigrant population stems from Latin America (fluent Spanish speakers by default, a big boon for integration), a quarter or so from other European countries (Romania ranks first), and one sixth from Africa (primarily Morocco, with about one million residents); Asia accounts for one out of every twenty foreign-born people.

Forced migration – not a prominent debate

To this day, forced migration has not been a prominent topic of public debate in Spain; nor have attempts to reform the Common European Asylum System. Apart from the fact that Spain used to receive few applications, this is arguably due to the broader context of a migration regime predicated primarily on employment-based integration. Regardless of how their migration motives are administratively classified, most newcomers quickly turn into active participants in the labor market. Differently from many other countries, Spain grants work permits to asylum applicants after six months of stay; many rejected applicants then seek employment-based individual regularization. To decrease the ensuing bureaucratic workload, recent regulatory tweaks have sought to separate asylum-seeking and employment-based immigration more clearly and thereby lower the number of asylum procedures. Yet the prevailing policy goal continues to be the promotion, rather than restriction, of third-country nationals’ access to the labor-market.

Actually, there has not been much public debate about the association between Spain’s expansive immigration policies of accepting and fostering more migration and its low-productivity model of economic growth, either. Lenient practices, such as the granting of residence papers to irregular migrants on an individual basis, conditional on specific requirements, are presently drawing broader attention for the first time in decades, and might play a major role in forthcoming electoral contests. The broad regularization of migrants is polarizing and is therefore being actively used by political parties as an election issue. Up until now, however, the focal points of public controversy and media attention have been determined by the visibility of very specific migratory movements, rather than comprehensive data or strategic concerns. Located as it is at Europe’s Southwestern fringe, Spain is exposed to irregular crossings of its maritime borders – be it across the Strait of Gibraltar, be it from West Africa toward the Canary Islands. While some Spaniards worry about the risks posed to migrants’ lives by such perilous trips, others perceive maritime search-and-rescue as an implicit boost to the business-model underpinning those irregular ferries. Consequently, spikes in the number of intercepted boats tend to trigger intense media coverage, political dispute, and increased salience of immigration as public concern – notwithstanding the scant share of irregular crossings by comparison to overall immigration flows.

The fate of (mainly male) immigrant youths without any accompanying adults is a second, related focus of recurrent attention which has been fanned by political and administrative ineptitudes. Their redistribution across Spain is an ineludible necessity, but mainstream parties have been quarreling endlessly about procedures for doing so. This has played into the hands of VOX, a radical-right party that has sought to spur discontent over immigration ever since it irrupted in Spain’s political system in 2018. Concerns about public security, often related to male migrant youths, were repeatedly fueled by VOX, at times with a clear Islamophobic touch.

Changing attitudes?

The attitudinal backdrop of these ongoing developments is complex. Spanish society has displayed comparatively benign attitudes toward immigration and immigrants (cf. Fig. 2). The large share of Latin American migrants facilitates rather smooth integration, as does continuing demand for immigrant labor. However, looming discontent might spell the end of Spanish exceptionalism in terms of public attitudes, sooner rather than later. Some groups of origin (especially Moroccans) are ill-regarded; distrust against migrants of Muslim faith is widespread; and many Spaniards perceive foreign-born newcomers to be enjoying unfair advantages such as privileged access to public services or benefits. VOX presently polls first among younger cohorts, especially males, and will seek to seize any future crisis affecting border-control, public security, or the labor-market. Still, any apparent triumph of nativist rhetoric is likely to be outlasted by the reliance of Spain’s economic growth model on massive volumes of immigrant workers.