IAS immigration lawyer Marta explains Spain’s economic boom

IAS Immigration Lawyer Marta Explains What’s Behind Spain’s Economic Boom

Immigration is a common debate. For many nations, it’s a double-edged sword. Labour market demand outweighs supply – so you need more immigrants, yet incoming immigrants outweigh outgoing immigrants – so you need fewer immigrants. The intrinsic link is a tightrope for politicians. The dividing line between good and bad in immigration sits on a knife edge. 

One place where the shackles have come off is Spain.

The Migration behind Spain’s economic boom

Over the years, Spain has held an intriguing position within European economics, dipping and diving between burden and benefit. Today, it sits atop the tree for GDP at 3.2% growth in 2024, compared to the 0.7% eurozone average. Spain is “probably” the fastest-growing advanced economy in the world right now. Why?

Migration. Spain’s approach to migration has transformed the economy. Spain has tackled labour market demand with population flows from Latin America and Morocco, hoping to reduce workforce demand. The unemployment rate in Spain is the best in 20 years, as low as before the 2007-2009 financial crash. So far, migration has worked. 

Trends in immigration searches for Spain

• 74% more traffic to Spain visa and nationality pages in 2024 compared to 2023
• The day after the US election results named Trump the next US President, there was a 500% increase in page visits for Spanish citizenship by descent on the IAS website
• The day after Trump’s inauguration, the IAS website saw a second 400% increase in page visits for Spanish citizenship by descent.
• 2024 saw 3X more searches for ‘Residency in Spain as a Non-EU Citizen’ compared to 2023
• 2.5X more page visits for ‘work visas in Spain’ in 2024 compared to 2023

Spain immigration lawyer Marta Reina Grau said:

“We are seeing a huge shift in the number of people wanting to live in Spain. It always had the weather, the lifestyle, the slower pace of life, and the cultural experience expats are looking for. Now, the economy is bustling, and there are many more reasons to move to Spain.”

“The government’s favourable policies towards migration and emphasis on integrating migrants into society is influencing decisions for moving to Spain.”

“We are witnessing more people from Latin America who are interested in moving to Spain. I think this affects the sentiment towards immigrants in Spain as there are already close cultural ties. So, too, are people realising that we have an ageing population and need more workers.”

“We are seeing the biggest shift for non-EU citizens, be it from Latin America or Africa, and most markedly, searches from the USA.

“Americans are exploring their links to Spain as they grow increasingly uncertain of their pathway in the US under President Trump.”

 “We have seen consistent interest since Brexit for people looking to move to Spain from the UK. This remains unchanged as people want to reintegrate and regain European accessibility.”

The “baby crash” and why Spain needs immigration so much?

As reported by the BBC, professor of economics at the IESE business school, Javier Díaz-Giménez, said that the baby boom from the 1950s-1970s is about to culminate in a “baby crash” as there are not enough workers to replace those approaching pension age. 

Spain’s central bank predicted that 25 million immigrants would be needed over 30 years to address the shortfall. 

Professor Javier Díaz-Giménez said:

“If you want to grow GDP, if you want to pay pensions for all the retiring baby boomers, you need to grow GDP in a different way to how we’re growing it now because there will not be as many people unless we bring them in through immigration.” 

Next, there are plans to regularize 500,000 undocumented immigrants. 

And Spain is beginning to get the credit it deserves for the shift in their economic status, with  The Economist ranking Spain first among 37 mostly wealthy countries in 2024

It remains to be seen what their future immigration policy will be, as even historically liberal countries like Canada are beginning to change their approach to immigration. Once economic growth slows, will the tide turn and the doors begin to slowly close?