Spain is flourishing: immigration drives economic growth!

Spain is flourishing: immigration drives economic growth!

In the midst of Europe's turbulent economic situation, Spain is gradually shining like a shining star in the economic sky. While economic growth in Germany is stagnating and even declining, the Spanish economy achieved remarkable growth of 3.2 percent in 2022 and the EU Commission is forecasting growth of 2.6 to 2.8 percent for 2025. This makes Spain a real bright spot in the Eurozone, as n-tv.de reports.

A central factor in this upswing is immigration. After the global financial crisis in 2008, Spain experienced a massive wave of emigration of young people. But since the end of the corona pandemic, around 600,000 people have been immigrating to Spain every year, mainly from Latin America. In addition to being an economic driver, this immigration helps mitigate the demographic challenges facing Spain. What is particularly noteworthy is the strong presence of immigrants in important sectors of the economy: in household services, 72 percent of employees from abroad work, while in the hospitality industry the proportion is 45 percent.

Focus on immigration reforms

In order to further promote immigration, Spain plans to issue residence and work permits to around 300,000 undocumented migrants every year from May 2025, initially until 2027. This represents an important step in closing the gaps in Spain's social system, emphasizes Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. He sees the decision as a crucial factor in determining whether Spain remains an open and prosperous country or drifts into isolation. The reforms are intended to help facilitate the integration of migrants while strengthening protective measures against exploitation, as liquid-news.com reports.

The Spanish bank BBVA sees migration as a key factor for economic growth. But despite record numbers of new jobs being created, the unemployment rate remains high at 11.5 percent. This shows that there are structured challenges in the economy that cannot be solved through immigration alone.

Demographic challenges and the EU context

Spanish society, like many other European countries, is also facing the challenges of demographic change. According to the Federal Agency for Civic Education, the proportion of people over 65 will increase to around a third of the total population by 2050. This could place a heavy burden on the pension and pension systems in many European countries. In order to meet these challenges, immigration plays a key role, as bpb.de explains.

In this context, the annual net immigration figures in Europe are remarkable. Since 2000, net immigration has been around 1.5 million people per year. Germany had the highest immigration in the EU from 2011 to 2023, while Spain has seen a decline over the past decade. Nevertheless, the country remains attractive for migrants and has the potential to help address demographic challenges with appropriate reforms.

In summary, despite its challenges and structural problems, Spain is well on its way to expanding its economic strength and role within the European Union. Whether this will be successful in the long term remains to be seen in the coming years, but the course has already been set.