Despite becoming a major immigration country much later than other Western nations, Spain’s demographic transformation has become irreversible. This article examines Spain’s demographics, immigration policies, and attitudes towards immigrants, focusing on the decades since the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975 and particularly since Spain’s financial and labor market crisis from 2008 to 2014. Yet it remains a potentially risky bet by the government, as demonstrated by the recent successes of the radical-right VOX party, which has embraced nativist rhetoric. This approach was forged in the early 2000s amidst a rapid increase in Spain’s foreign-born population and survived a subsequent economic crisis during which the unemployment rate hit 27 percent. These policies, which are better attuned to the country’s labor market demands and the aspirations of immigrants, have largely escaped political backlash, due in part to regulations allowing unauthorized immigrants the opportunity to secure legal residence so long as they prove an employment history or social integration. Although these policies do not guarantee immigrants will quickly acquire natives’ living standards, Spain provides the vast majority of its 7.5 million foreign-born residents access to extensive civic and social rights, including a path to citizenship. Spain’s immigration policies are now remarkably inclusive, not only by historical standards but also compared to peer nations. Gone are the times when legal immigration was all but impossible and when large shares of immigrants in Spain lacked authorization for living there. While irregular status was indeed endemic in the 1980s and 1990s, as a result of a glaring mismatch between strong demand for foreign-born workers and overly restrictive regulations, Spain’s immigration management has matured considerably since then. This idea is given new life by media coverage of migrants crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, around the Canary Islands, or climbing fences in the North African enclave cities Ceuta and Melilla. There is a common misperception that a defining feature of Spain’s current immigration regime is large numbers of people in irregular status. Historically a country of emigration, primarily to the Americas and Northern Europe, Spain has in recent decades become a major immigrant destination, with the foreign born comprising a larger share of the population than in the United Kingdom, the United States, or other major destination countries.
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