Abstract
This paper takes as a reference, empirical analyses conducted in northern European countries and the United States which associate socioeconomic factors to the location patterns of immigrants. It has been suggested that the socioeconomic context of southern Europe could impact immigrants’ location choices. We analyze data on the location of immigrants in municipalities of the Andalusian region in southern Spain with respect to the factors that most influence immigrants’ location preferences as discussed in the literature: a pre-existing immigrant community, economic dynamism, population size and other scarcely investigated factors such as the territorial characteristics of the municipality and its productive structure. We conclude that immigrant location patterns in Andalusia are very similar to those found in geographical areas outside Spain, with the exception of specific characteristics related to the social and labor model of the region.
Highlights
Foreign immigration is not an entirely new phenomenon in Spain, it has grown significantly in recent years
To analyze the factors that influence immigrants’ location patterns in Andalusia, we review the literature on this phenomenon in other geographical areas
Given that our goal is to measure the economic dynamism of the 63 territorial units of Andalusia as a determinant of immigrant location patterns, we have selected 11 variables grouped into four dimensions to build the synthetic indicator
Summary
Foreign immigration is not an entirely new phenomenon in Spain, it has grown significantly in recent years. The increasing number of immigrants in Spain has been affected by the socio-political situation of the country. In particular the rapid growth of Spain’s economy primarily from the mid-1990s to the middle of the first decade of the century, the development of immigration policy marked by on-going regularization processes, and the signing of bilateral agreements to regulate migration flows have all had a positive impact (Díez 2005), in addition to the growing importance of pull factors, family reunification flows (Izquierdo 2002). This paper focuses on specific factors that could determine the residential location patterns of immigrants through a comparative analysis of data drawn from municipal registers. The study is based on a review of the research conducted with data on immigrant location factors and focuses on the main determinants of immigrants’ location preferences in other geographical areas. We present the results and conclusions of the research, comparing the various factors analyzed
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