Migration in Spain

3. MIGRATION IN SPAIN -

INTERNAL MIGRATION Internal migration is the movement of population within (dentro) the same country.

In Spain, there has been a strong rural exodus.

The rural exodus is the migration of population from the countryside to the cities.

This type of movement began in the 19 th century, but increased in the 1950s and 1960s.

In this period there was a massive transfer of population from rural areas to the bigger cities and towards regions where the tourist activity was growing.

Regions that lost population : -

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They were in central and southern Spain (Extremadura, Castilla y León, Castilla- La Mancha and Andalucía).

The destination regions: -

They were industrialised areas (Cataluña, País Vasco, Madrid, and Comunidad Valenciana).

Many people went to live in regions that required a labour force for their tourist activity.

There were some migration to regional capitals.

-Consequences: - Many rural areas in the central part of the peninsula became depopulated.

- Cities increased rapidly in size and their suburbs also grew.

- City authorities found difficulties to improve planning and services (schools…) to satisfy the needs of their growing opulations.

- Today: -

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Internal migration takes place over short distances and is influenced by the expansion of cities into their surrounding regions.

As a city grows, part of its urban population goes to live at a considerable distance from the centre (houses cheaper than in the centre)

3. MIGRATION IN SPAIN INTERNAL EMIGRATION -

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Traditionally, many people have emigrated from Spain over the last 150 years, although the number of emigrants has fallen in recent decades.

Up to the 1930s: -

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In the mid-20 th century: -

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Emigration solwed down.

Many emigrants returned to Spain.

In the late 20 th and early 21 th centuries: -

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The main routes were to industrialised countries in Europe such as Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium.

In these countries were greater job opportunities.

Emigrants left from many parts of Spain, especially the less industrialised regions (Andalucía and Extremadura).

After the economic crisis of 1973: -

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Most Spanish emigration was to Latin America.

Spaniards went to live there between 1886 and 1915 to improve their economic situation.

A wave of political refugees was forced into exile afer the Civil War (1936- 1939) and during the repression of General Franco’s dictatorship.

Other people left Spain to escape from post-war poverty.

The Spanish economy grew rapidly There were new job opportunities for people who stayed in the country.

Since 2008: -

The current economic situation has le to a new rise in emigration Nowadays, young well-qualified workers emigrate because there are more possibilities to find jobs in other countries of the European Union.

The emigration of well-qualified people with technical skills is known as the “brain drain” (fuga de cerebros).