Spain and Portugal for Visitors

Posted by : John Ross on Oct 22, 2008 - 12:04 PM Living and Working

The typical picture of English or German immigrants to Spain as pensioners seeking warm weather and a lower cost of living and living on the costas or Spanish islands is out of date. According to a working paper by Carmen González Enríquez, an analyst of Spanish think tank the Elcano Royal Institute, the pattern of EU immigration into Spain has changed over the last ten or twelve years, and the new north European immigrant is younger, wealthier, and is as likely to live in Madrid or Barcelona as Majorca. Even more strikingly, far from being retired, these recent immigrants not only work, but have middle or senior management positions or are successful freelance professionals. "Only a quarter of foreigners from the most developed countries in the EU who live in Spain are pensioners," begins the working paper, entitled "The Other Immigrants: EU Citizens from Rich Countries." Read more.

The working paper (WP) considers the presence in Spain of British and North European immigrants of this kind to be "highly positive," but admits that it is impossible to determine exactly how many there are in Spain. Many do not register with the Ministry of the Interior or local authorities, partly for the simple reason that "they do not have enough incentives to do so," partly because the concept of "resident" is woolly - legally, anyone who spends three months or more in Spain is resident, even if they live elsewhere for the rest of the year. "According to calculations by various embassies in Spain, more than half of their nationals who normally reside here have not registered with the local authority." And one of the reasons for the change is the cost of flights, such that it is "cheaper to fly from London to Málaga than to travel by train or plane from London to Edinburgh."

In other words - my words - we are now in the age of commuter immigration.

Before I continue, I'll point out that other recent studies of EU immigration come to slightly different conclusions to those of this working paper. As far as I can see, the reason is that this paper concentrates as its title says on "EU citizens from rich countries," and does not take the same account of immigration from new EU countries in Eastern Europe, especially Rumania. The WP refers to EU-15 countries, those in the European Union prior to the expansion of 2004 (or EU-14, i.e., the same countries without Spain) - I shall do the same, or distinguish between "rich-EU" and "poor-EU" immigrants.

Demographically, while only 21% of rich-EU immigrants are over 64 years of age, i.e., pensioners, with a mean age of over 50, the new rich-EU immigrants are still considerably older than the native Spanish population, which is in turn older than other immigrants such as those from South America, Morocco or Rumania. But these EU-14 immigrants are "active," to use the jargon for "working," and it is only in the Levante region - Valencia and Murcia - that the old profile of retirees and early retirees is still the case. In every other part of Spain, there are more working EU-14 immigrants than pensioners, except Andalusia where there are 45% working, 45% retired, and, tellingly, 10% unemployed.

I am glad to say that the WP takes note of the fact that, while many rich-EU immigrants are highly qualified and in skilled jobs, Spain is obstructionist when it comes to recognising academic and professional qualifications from other countries. While rich-EU immigrants are able to enter high-ranking positions is in the private sector, and in areas such as IT which are not regulated by Spanish legislation. Those activities such as medicine or architecture which are "harmonized" - all EU qualifications are considered the same - are not a problem. But in teaching and the academic world, and in public administrations, the obstructionism is still as bad as it was twenty or more years ago, and if your qualification entitles you to teach physics or music or do research in nuclear physics, your chances of getting it recognized are so low and the process takes so long that you will end up waiting on or - God help you - teaching English. The latter is the only possible explanation for the 10% of EU-14 immigrants found in the Education sector.

The British/German ghetto era, of single-nationality pensioners occupying entire urbanizations and barely integrating with Spaniards, is past, and EU-14 immigrants are now part of their local communities. But the WP points out that EU-14 immigrants do not take part in local or regional political processes, either as candidates or voting. One reason is evidently their reluctance to register, an indispensable step in the election process. Another, though, is "the absence of major local conflicts which affect their daily lives," in which respect the WP cites two substantial changes which have led to increased political participation (indignation-driven, I add) in coastal areas, both related with housing: the Law of the Coasts, and the different incarnations of the Valencian Planning Acts.

One of the WP's conclusions is that EU-14 immigration over the last decade has not been caused by "push" factors, when people are driven to emigrate because of poor conditions in their home country. Rather, "and what we see are pull factors which are not included in the scope of standard analyses of the causes of immigration: Germans, French, Britons and Dutch who come to live and work in Spain do so in search of better quality of life, a concept in which climate plays an important but not exclusive role."

So the new North European immigrant to Spain is no longer a pensioner, here because it is cheaper than turning on the central heating at home and passing the time between the swimming pool, expat tea parties and whist drives, and learning only scarce words of Spanish. Rather, the new rich-EU immigrant is a skilled, working professional, who is here because he or she wants to be here, who enjoys the country, its food and drink, its languages, its culture and heritage, and, above all, its way of life.

The Elcano Institute is a think-tank with the mission of "generation of ideas of practical use to politicians, heads of relevant public and private entities," so the WP concludes with recommendations about how its findings should be used, in terms of matters like health and education policies. I, on the other hand, shall take note of the fact that EU-14 immigrants are now much like the users at whom Spain and Portugal for Visitors has always been aimed: educated, independent, mature, active, and, above all, interested in Spain and Portugal. So it should not matter all that much if you use this website to plan your visit or to find out more about the country you have chosen to call home and what it has to offer: Spain and Portugal for Visitors should have something for you.

I welcome your comments.

More information:
The Other Immigrants - EU Citizens from Rich Countries
Real Instituto Elcano