New Immigration and Emigration Flows and Policies in Spain

Spain is one of the EU countries worst affected by the current crisis and mounting unemployment. This paper seeks to find out whether increasing numbers of people in Spain are migrating to other European countries in response and what are the main characteristics of these new migrants. We review the quantitative data available (municipal registries, census, Labour Force Survey, plus host country sources) and try to answer some of the questions being debated: are we seeing a massive increase in emigration (or merely a continuation of an established trend), who are these new migrants (mostly young and highly educated, Spanish-born nationals or naturalized migrants, more men than women), and where are they going (to other EU countries, outside the EU)? We also briefly look at the political, media and academic debates sparked by this phenomenon, focusing on whether these migration flows are seen as detrimental or as a sign of increased globalization.