Foreigners, Neighbours, Immigrants: Translocal Mobilities in Rural Areas in Spain

Abstract

This chapter analyses the role of rural areas in processes of international immigration in Spain. It focuses on the interrelations between geographical and social (occupational) mobility of migrants to these areas. The analysis is based on data from the National Immigrant Survey in 2007, the first to offer representative information at the national level on the residential and occupational trajectories of foreign residents in Spain. Foreign residents in rural areas have different kinds of mobility and these types of mobility convert some foreigners into “new neighbours” and others into “immigrants.” The ethnic stratification of the labour market which operates with respect to immigrants also forms part of the social production of mobilities. The data support the findings of previous studies in that they show the subsidiary role of agriculture and rural areas in the employment and residential strategies of immigrants. In addition to local employment opportunities, family migration patterns also seem to play an important role in these new residents settling in rural areas.