Immigration in Spain: a comparative metropolitan approach

Abstract

Foreign immigration has become one of the principal and most important demographic and social transformation phenomena in Spain since the turn of the Century. The objective of this article is to define the current reality of immigration in the Spanish urban context. The principal conclusion is the high degree of diversity of the migratory phenomenon in relation to the impact in each metropolis, as in the nature of the migratory flows according to the continental origin.  The Asian and American flows are observed as being more urban, while the European and African flows are more rural.  With regard to the metropolises, Madrid and Barcelona are situated as the main zones of settlement, while Valencia and Saragossa are characterised as being emerging metropolises.  It is not possible to speak of a single migratory reality, since the profile and intensity of such flows vary as a function of the final migratory destination.