Economic recession and the reverse of internal migration flows of Latin American immigrants in Spain

Abstract

Fluctuations in internal migration flows have been closely associated with changes in economic processes. However, foreign immigrants’ spatial responses to changing national economic conditions have not yet been sufficiently studied. This paper aims to analyze the impact of the Spanish economic downturn on Latin American immigrants’ mobility by examining their territorial patterns of internal migration. In order to elucidate the intensity and directionality of Latin Americans’ internal flows between 2004 and 2013, divided in two periods –before and during the crisis–, we relied on the data of the Residential Variation Statistics (RVS), and the creation of a typology of provinces according to each province’s socio-economic characteristics. We calculated the net migration rates for the main immigrant groups and generated OD matrices. This study shows that Latin Americans’ internal flows in Spain have been affected by the economic downturn, revealing a decrease in intensity and a change in directionality. The economic crisis in Spain has caused a change in the previous dynamic of geographical dispersion and has become a new factor of differentiation in the distribution of the Latin American population in Spain.