Latin American migration to Spain

Latin Americans in Spain are individuals in Spain who are from or descend from individuals from Latin America. As of January 2024, there are 4,252,074 Latin Americans living in Spain.^[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][3]

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^[4][5] and the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression.^[6]

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.^[7][8] Migration decreased in 2020 due to reduced long-distance flights during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[9]

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.^[10]

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.^[11]

Demographics

Colombian migrants in Spain are the largest group of Latin Americans in the country.^[2] As of 2024, more than a million residents in Madrid were born in Latin America.^[12] 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.^[13][14][15]

By country of birth

Ecuadorian independence day celebrations in Madrid

Per Instituto Nacional de Estadística, 1 January 2022:^[1]

• Colombia 568,034
• Venezuela 440,992
• Ecuador 420,573
• Argentina 328,333
• Peru 265,949
• Dominican Republic 190,478
• Bolivia 179,829
• Cuba 176,800
• Brazil 156,540
• Honduras 150,643
• Paraguay 110,321
• Uruguay 83,773
• Nicaragua 69,508
• Mexico 66,304
• Chile 65,002
• El Salvador 29,947
• Guatemala 15,226
• Panama 6,744
• Costa Rica 5,804

See also

• Colombians in Spain
• Ecuadorians in Spain
• Venezuelans in Spain
• Mexicans in Spain