SUMMARIES UNIT 12 : POPULATION IN SPAIN (2ºESO)

1. DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE IN SPAIN

THE DEMOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF SPAIN

There have been three stages in the demographic history of Spain.

• The population of Spain grew very slowly during the Middle Ages. The birth rate was high, but the mortaliy rate was also high because many people suffered from illnesses and had a por diet.
• In Early  Modern times, there were periods of both growth and stagnation. There was demographic growth in the 16 th century, but it was interrupted in the 17 th century by plagues and war. population increased once again in the 18 th century s food supplies improved. In this period, the populatin of Spanish coastal region began to rise in comparison with inland Spain.
• The demographic transition took place in 20 th-century S`pain . this process take place when a country develops economically, and its mortality rate and birth rate both fall. In some parts of Europe the demographic transition began in the 19 th century, but it started later in Spain.

POPULATION CHANGE IN THE 20 TH CENTURY

Population growth increased during the first half of the 20 th century. The birth rate was higher than the mortality rate for nearly all this period. However, the impact of he great flu epidemic of 1918, the Civil War (1936 – 1939) and the years of hardship following the Civil War all prevented popultion growth from rising more rapidly.

Population increased raidly from 1950 to 1975, when the birth rate was high and the mortality rate fell. During this period, there was also a massive rural exodus from the countryside to the raidly expanding cities.

RECENT POPULATION CHANGE

After 1975 population growth slowed down in Spain. This was a result of the social and economic modernisation of the country. Many more women had jobs, which led to a decline in the fertility rate and the birth rate. Another important factor was the improvement in health care, which led to a significant ageing of the population.

In the early 21 st century demographic growth recovered slightly as a result of an increase inimmigration. The new immigrants were mainly youngpeople, so the birth rate increased. However, the economic crisis that began in 2008 has slowed down the rate of immigration.

Today, Spain has one of the oldest populations in the world. But its age structure is different from one region to another.

• Small rural municipalities, especially in the north of the península, have ageing populations. This is a result of the internal migration which has taken place in recent years.
• On the other hand, urbana reas have increasingly young populations. Toung immigrants have tended to setle in cities.

2. THE POPULATION OF SPAIN

Today, Spain has about 47 million inhabitants, its average population density is 92 inhabitants per km2, but there are great differences between regions.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION

Spanish populaion is distributed very unevenly across its territory.

• The inland areas of the península are areas of low populaion density. For example, Zamora, Soria an Cuenca have less than 30 inhabitants per km2. The biggest exception is Madrid, which has one of the highest population densities in the whole country.
• Coastal regions and the two archipelagos have high population density. Some provinces such as Barclona, Valenci, Bizkaia, Guipuzkoa, Alicane and Santa Cruz de Tenerife have over 200 inhabitants per Km2.

These differences are mainly due to the historical development of he country. Until the 17 th century, the inland area of Spain were highly populated. But since the 18 th century, economic development on the coast has increasingly attracted immigrants from the centre of the península.

In inland Spain, population density is greater in the south han in he north:

• In the north, towns and villages have historically been quite small.
• On the other hand, southern towns are bigger and offer a wider range of services. Until the recent crisis, they had greater opportunities to offer young people.

NATURAL INCREASE

For most of the 20 th century, the birth rate was above 20 per thousand (20%0) in Spain. However, in recent decades this had declined considerably. Today, Spain has a birth rate of 10.2 %0 one of the lowest in the world.

The fertility rate has aso declined. The number of children per woman is now only 1.4 %0 , which is below the rate at which one generation is replaced by another. The reasons for this decline are the high economic cost of bringing up children and the entry of women into the labour market.

In earlier periods, the mortality rate was very high in Spain. At the beginning of the 20 th century it was still more than 20%0 . Since then, however, it has gradually declined as a result of improvements in health services and living conditions. Today, the mortality rate in Spain is 8.9% 0 . The main causes  of death are hearth disease, cáncer and traffic accidents.

Life expectancy is one of the highest in he world. It is about 84 per yerras for women and 78 years for men.

THE AGE STRUCTURE

The Spanish poulation has gradually been getting older for many years, in part, his geing has been caused by the increase in life expectancy which has led to a rise in the number of old people. All the same time, the falling birth rate has led to a drop in the number of young people.

Today, 15.3% of he Spanish population are under  15 years of age, while 17.3% are 65 or older. He proportion of old people is certain to go on increasing in he future. This is likely to cause economic problems because the state will have to use a lot of its resources top ay for pensions nd look after older people.

3. MIGRATION IN SPAIN

INTERNAL MIGRATION

Internal migration is the movement of population within the same country. In Spain, there has been a very strong rural exodus: this is the migration of population fro the countryside to the cities.

This type of population movement began in the 19 th century, but increased greatly in the 1905s and 1960s. during that period, there was a massive transfer of population from rural areas to the bigger cities, as well as towards regions where the tourist industry was growing.

• The main regions that lost population were in central and southern Spain, for example Extremadura, Castilla y León, Castilla- La Mancha and Andalucía.
• The destination regions were industrialised areas, like Cataluñaand the País Vasco, as well as Madrid and Comunidad Valenciana. Many people aldo went to live in regions hat required a labour forcé for their tourist industries. Finally, there was some migration to regional capitals.

Consequences: As a result of migration, many rural areas in the central part of the península became depopulated. Cities increased rapidly in size, hile the suburbs also grew. But city autorities often found it difficulty to improve their growing populations.

Today,internal migration often takes place over shot distances., and is influenced by the expansion of cities into their surrounding regions. As a city grows, part of its urban population often goes to live at a considerable distance from the centre.

INTERNATIONAL EMIGRATION

Traditionally, many people have emigrated from Spain over the last 150 years, although the number of emigrants has fallen considerbly in recent decades.

Up to the 1930s, most Spanish emigration was to Latin America. About 1.5 million Spniards went t olive there between 1886 and 1915 to improve their economic situation. A wave of political refugees was  forced into exile after the Civil War (1936-1939), and during te repression of General Franco’s dictatorship. Other people left Spain  to escape from post-war poverty.

In he mid-20 th century, he main emigration routes were to industrialised countries in Europe, such as Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium. Veteen 1959 and 1973 about one million Spaniards went t olive and work in these countries, where there were greater job opportunities. Emigrants left from many parts of Spain, espcially the less industrialised regions like Andalucía and Extremadura.

However, emigration slowed don after the economic crisis of 1973, which made it hardr to find jobs in the rest of Europe. Many emigrants returned to Spain. The Spanish economy grew rapidly in the late 20 th and early 21 st centuries so there were new job oportunities for people who stayed in the country. However, since 2008 the deteriorating economic siuation hs led to a new rise in emigration. Nowadays, it is mainly young well –qualified workers who emígrate, because they are mor likely to find jobs in other pars of the European Union. The emigration of well-qualified peoplewith technical skills is known as the “brain-drain”.

4. IMMIGRATION IN SPAIN

THE DEVELOPMENT OF IMMIGRATION IN SPAIN

Many centuries ago, numerous settlements were established on the Iberian Peninsula by peoples from across the Mediterranean like the Phoenicians or the Greeks. Later, came the Roman, Visigoth and Arab invasions. But in the last 150 years, foreigm¡n immigration has nearly always been on a much smaller scale than emigration.

However, there was a huge increase in foreign immigration in the 1990s. immigrants were attracted by the possibility of orking in Spain, and also saw it as a way of entering the European Union. Today, 5.7 million immigrants live in Spain, although there may be as many as one million more people if immigrants without oficial papers arealso included. He origins of immigrants are very varied. Many come from other parts of the European Union (43%), Latin America (26%) and Africa (over 19%).

By country, there are large numbers of immigrants from Morocco and Romania, as well as Lain American countries such as Ecuador, Colombia and Argentina. Many of these immigrants live in big cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, as ell as Valencia, Málaga, Alicante and Sevilla. All these places offered work opportuniies before the recent economic crisis.

Many of the immigrants who come from developed European countries, such as the United Kingdom, are older people who settle in Spain when they retire. They generally live on the coast  and in Andalucía, where they enjoy the lifestyle and climate.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IMMIGRANT POPULATION

• Sex distribution. Here are more men than women in the immigrant population, for example among immigrants from Africa. However, the proportion of women is higher among immigrants from Latin America and Estern Europe.
• Age distribution. Most immigrants are of working age. People between 22 and 44 years of age represent about 50% of the total foreign population.

THE EFFECTS OF IMIGRATION ON SOCIETY

Immigration has had positive effects on Spanish society. These include the increase in the birth rate in recent years and the arrival of a substantial workforce in agricuture, tourism, building, and caring for old people. Moreover, immigrants make an important economic contribution through the taxes they pay. They have also helped to create a more diverse culure.

However, imigration has also created problems. Mafias bring immigrants into the country illegally, and then exploit them after their arrival. Foreigners who are not legally resident live in a very recarious situation. Immigrants may fae xenophobic and racist attitudes and become marginalised, especially if they do not speak good Spanish.