Long a country of emigration, Spain only really became a country of immigration in the last two decades. The country has generally tolerant attitudes to immigration and is noted for its welcoming attitudes towards refugees. Concerns around immigration are comparatively low and the country has avoided the divisive public and political narratives around immigration that have emerged in some European countries. This is now changing with the rise of the strongly nationalist, anti-immigrant Vox party.

Migration trends

Between 2000 and 2009 Spain had the highest level of immigration in Europe, spurred by high economic growth and labour market demand. Immigration decreased following the recession and trends reversed. Immigration and asylum are now on the rise and in 2020 Spain processed the third highest number of asylum requests in Europe.

This data shows annual immigration, emigration and net migration figures. Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (n.d.) 'Foreign Migrations' Dataset

Salience

Traditionally immigration has not registered as a top issue of relevance in Spain. However, it became a major concern in 2006 with the ‘crisis of the dinghies’, when large numbers of people arrived in the Canary Islands. The salience of the issue declined rapidly since this peak and has remained mainly low since.

This shows the percentage of people who see immigration as one of the two most important issues facing the country today. Source: Eurobarometer (n.d.) 'Standard Eurobarometer'. Brussels: European Commission. Data shown is taken from Autumn surveys, with the Autumn surveys of 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23 shifting to Winter 2020/21, Winter 2021/22 and Winter 2022/23 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Perceptions

In Spain less of the population see immigration as a problem (20%) than an opportunity (29%) according to survey data in 2021, with perceptions becoming more positive between 2017 and 2021 on these questions.

This shows the percentage of people that think immigration from outside the EU is more of a problem than an opportunity, or more of an opportunity than a problem, or equally a problem and an opportunity. Source: European Commission (2018) 'Special Eurobarometer 469. Integration of immigrants in the European Union'; European Commission (2022) 'Special Eurobarometer 519. Integration of immigrants in the European Union'

Attitudes

A growing share of Spaniards believe that immigration makes the country a better place to live and negative attitudes have declined. Those reporting positive attitudes significantly increased from 28% in 2002 to 49% in 2022. Notably, this occurred even with the impact of the recession in 2008, when youth and immigrant unemployment rates soared.

This shows how people have answered the question 'Do immigrants make Spain a worse or a better place to live.' Those scoring 0-4 are classified as holding 'negative' views, those scoring 5 as 'indecisive' and those scoring 6-10 as holding 'positive' views. Source: European Social Survey (n.d.) 'Spain.' Electronic Dataset Survey postponed in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Sea and land arrivals

Spain is the only European country to maintain a land border with Africa via the two Spanish enclaves Ceuta and Melilla. While people making land crossings from Morocco and using boats to reach the Canary Islands from West Africa attracts much attention, numbers are small in the context of overall immigration flows. The significant increase in 2023 is driven by large numbers of people arriving by sea, with land arrivals declining.

This shows the number of immigrants arriving in Spain using land crossings from Morocco and by sea. Source: UNHCR (n.d.) Operational data portal. Mediterranean situation: Spain