• Beginning and evolution of Colombian migration to Spain

The international Colombian migration starts in large proportions with a first wave during the 60s as a consequence of the appearance of rural guerrillas. At that time two main destinies emerge, the United States – with favorable migration laws at the time – and Venezuela – a neighbouring country which in the 70s was attractive because of its demand for manual labor in the farming, industrial and petroleum sectors. In the 80s a new migration flow becomes evident due to Colombia’s role as key actor amongst the illicit global chains of narcotics, provoking an increase in criminality and internal displacement. The minority that migrates into this business, however, leaves the country to avoid the negative consequences brought about by the illicit drug traffic.

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The last migratory wave starts with the economic crisis of the 1996-2003 decade. After the rupture with the International Coffee Agreement in 1989, coffee prices went down considerably, affecting particularly the economy of the Coffee Growing Region and the national economy in general. The crisis of the mid 90s at national level which was parallel to the structural readjustment process based on neo-liberal style measures promoted by international financing institutions, worsened this situation. In this way both employment and unemployment increased, the household-level of acquisition decreased and the supply and demand for social services such as education and health were altered. Generalized violence and insecurity also increased during this period, causing the emigration of a great number of Colombians of different socio-economic origins.

This is the time when traditional destinies such as the United States become more unreachable due to tougher migratory policies. Other destinies began to develop, such as Spain, which had gradually started to attract migrants. According to the analysis of the 2005 census, the National Statistics Administration Department, (DANE), the main destiny for Colombian migration was still the United States (35,4%), followed by Spain (23,3%) and Venezuela (18,5%). Other important destinies but with lower percentages were: Ecuador, Canada, Panama, Mexico and Costa Rica. In a 20-year period the number of Colombians overseas doubled, growing from 1.500.000 in 1985 to 3.331.000 in 2005, according to information obtained from national censuses. However, it is calculated that close to one million persons left the country during the five-year period between 2000 and 2005.

In the specific case of Spain, from the 1980s decade an increase in Colombian migration can be observed. However, it is in the 1990s decade when the number starts increasing in comparison to the rest of foreign communities. In 2002 came into effect the visa requirement for Colombians in Spanish territory, which had a bearing on the intensity of the migratory flow. More specifically between 1995 and 2005, the number of Colombians holding permanent residency in Spain multiplied by twenty.

• Number of Colombian persons residing in Spain

According to the data of the Department of Labour and Social Affairs ( Foreigners with a card of residence permit valid as of 31 December 2006), the Colombian community in Spain numbers 225.504 persons, and represented 7.46% of foreign population.

• Feminization of the Colombian migration to Spain

The Colombian migratory flow during the first years is characterized by greater feminization. In 2000, the year in which the Colombian population doubled in comparison to the previous year, 69,79% of Colombians with legal residency in Spain were women. However, during the following years female predominance has been decreasing slowly, although it continues being meaningful. According to the data of the Spanish Department of Labour as of September 2005, 57,7% of Colombians with a valid were women (118.046) and of the censused population of Colombian origin in that same year, 56,3% were women. The evolution of work permits granted to Colombians also reflects this decrease in the female community. While in the year 2000 of the total of work permits granted to Colombians 66,3% were for women (10.403), in 2005 this percentage decreased to 53,9% (52.015). The decrease in feminization seems to indicate a progressive incorporation of men to a migratory flux which in the beginning was started by women who later paved the way for their husbands, brothers and other male relatives.

At the same time, where feminization continues being greater and does not decrease is in the number of Colombian persons who obtain a residence permit by marriage with a Spanish national. The number of marriages between Colombian and Spanish persons started to grow significantly in the year 2001. In 2004 more than three thousand Colombian women obtained a residence permit by this means and 2.047 obtained it in 2005, quadruplicating the number of Colombian men who in that same year married a woman with Spanish nationality.

• Distribution by age

Given that the immigrant Colombian population is young, it concentrates mostly in economically productive age. Sixty-five percent of the censused Colombian population is found in the cohorts between 20 to 44 years old. However, the comparison between age distribution of the Colombian community with the rest of the foreigners shows that the Colombian population has more people in the 35-45 year old span.

It’s worth mentioning that the school age population (between 5 and 15 years old) supposes a significant 12,5% of the total. This shows the importance of the family reunification processes (which, in the Colombian case and given their recent settlement in Spain, it has happened very quickly) and to the existence of a migratory pattern with a trend towards settlement wherein there was a noticeable presence of the designated “second generation”. The number of school-age persons acquires greater pertinence if we take into account that in the school year 2003-2004 persons of Colombian origin were the third immigrant community registered in non-university education.

The percentage of censused persons decreased significantly starting at 50 years of age, which indicates that there is a small population of elderly adults in charge of Colombian residents (for example, grandmothers who go to Spain to help with caring for grandchildren) and that the family reunification processes have focused on regrouping husbands/sons and daughters, but not fathers and mothers.

• Level of education

The Colombian community in Spain is characterized by higher levels of education, as compared to other numerous communities, such as the Ecuadorian and the Moroccan. These educational levels reflect the particular class composition of the Colombian migration which has a university-level education.

According to a BID study (2002) , 38.8% of Colombians in Spain had completed university studies and only 3.8% had basic education or had no school training. These percentages significantly are in contrast to those of other Latin American communities, such as the Ecuadorian and the Dominican, whose educational levels show an inverse tendency.

• Insertion into the labour market

According to the Annual Report of Labour Statistics dated December 2005 the Department of Labour and Social Affairs, we find that by productive sectors the largest number of Colombians i.e. 75,4% works in the service sector, which exceeds by thirteen points the total percentage of foreigners who work in that sector (62%). Very distant from that number is the following sector having the largest number of Colombians, the construction sector, with 15% of Colombians working in it. In this sector, unlike the previous one, the percentage of Colombians is below the median for foreigners which is at 18%. The rest of the other sectors (agriculture and industry) accumulate percentages lower than 10%. It is fitting to highlight that while 10,7% of foreigners are sought for the agricultural sector, only 3% of Colombians participate in it.

The last data of the Population Census as of the year 2001, gives an idea of the main occupational sectors of the Colombian population disaggregated by sex. It is noted that a large number of women are employed in the domestic service, but that they are also significantly present in the hotel/restaurant sector (waitresses, kitchen helpers, etc.), taking care of dependent persons (children and the elderly), and as employees in stores. Likewise, there is a small percentage holding administrative posts. The men are scattered in several areas, standing out the construction area, either as labourers or as workers in structural work or in the finishing stage, as machine operators and in the hotel/restaurant sector. They also participate, although less relevant, in the administrative area of agriculture.

Lastly, it must mentioned that there is a sector of activity which is not taken into account in official statistics due to its “illegal” status in Spain, but which employs a large number of foreign women amongst which there are many Colombians. It is the sexual service sector, which includes a large scale of activities which range from prostitution in its diverse modalities (street prostitution, at clubs, apartments, etc.) to “relax” houses, massages, escort services, etc. (Agustin, 2000).

• Income

Although none of the surveys has data disaggregated by sex, it is estimated that after the study of Aparicio and Jiménez (2003) the average salary of Colombian men in Spain is of 756 euros and of Colombian women 572 euros. However, the qualitative data shows that most people complement their basic salary by doing complementary work or doing overtime work.

• Sending of remittances and their use

A first comparison between the total expense made by recipient and non recipient households of remittances shows that recipient households spend in total more than the non recipient. This increase in total expenses by recipient households supposes only 10.1% more than the expenses made by non-recipient households. Receiving remittances entails a greater increase in the basic family needs in the case of households with men as heads of household, than for those with women as heads of households in absolute terms (76.196 as compared to 51.145 respectively) and in relative terms (11,7% as compared to 6,8%).

More than this global increase in expense, its distribution by epigraphs is very similar amongst recipient households and non-recipient ones. That is to say, receiving remittances does not cause great variations in the spending structure. After classifying the total expense by epigraphs the following data is highlighted: The recipient households increase communication expenses by 42,3% (telephone, Internet and cable), a 63,9% entertainment and 39,6% health expenses, at the same time that they decrease by 36,5% their expense for education and 33,1% their domestic and personal services expense.

Interviews held in Colombia and Spain show that remittances finance consumer goods. Consequently, maintaining or increasing the access to these goods (individually in autonomous migration, and more in parental migrations) is one of the common objectives to the analyzed migratory projects. Within this framework, the success of the migratory project would be determined by the accomplishment of the economic progress that permits access to goods that symbolize status and distinction. As a result, some of the remittances allow access to a whole scale of objects and activities the main object of which is to increase comfort and stimulate the sensation of abundance. To this same effect, we find numerous references as to the type of expense and investment made by migrants when they return to visit or are on vacation for expenses that would be greatly influenced by gender factors. So, within a common framework for men and women of social demonstration and social visibility of the success of the migratory project during short periods pending their return, men choose in larger measure recreational and entertainment activities, often collectively, while women would be more focused in all that refers to aesthetics and beauty as distinctive symbols of success characteristic of women. Within this framework, an automobile is the prototype demonstration of success of a migrant man and plastic surgery of a woman.

In a reiterative way, surveys on the use given to remittances show that most of them are destined to current expenses. The surplus is destined in variable percentages and depending on the countries, to education, health, savings, purchase of a house, or productive investments. Colombia is not an exception nor does it present significant differences concerning the distribution of the remittances made by recipient households of other countries, as reported by the data provided by the IDB (2004):

							GUATEMALA							HONDURAS							EL SALVADOR							MEXICO							ECUADOR							COLOMBIA
Business							10%							4%							4%							1%							8%							7%
Savings							11%							4%							4%							7%							8%							4%
Purchase of a house							1%							2%							1%							1%							4%							3%
Subsistance expenses							68%							77%							84%							70%							60%							68%
Education							7%							10%							4%							6%							2%							12%

The analysis of the annual average productive expense of the households participants in the survey, shows that recipient households have a business enterprise on a slightly higher average than non recipient ones (20,1% as compared to 16,4%, according to Garay and Castillo, 2005c). The participation of remittances in these businesses is very low, since only 9% of their expenses are financed with funds received from overseas. The analysis disaggregated by sex shows a lower investment by the recipient households headed by women and nevertheless, a greater contribution of remittances in the cases of the investments made by them.

The case of Colombia would be an intermediate case, since a 5.5% declares that they allot remittances for the purchase of a home, being this data the same for women and men.

In most of the cases, remittances have contributed in greater measure to finance improvements and renovations to the house that they already own than to the purchase of a home. In homes of lower social standing, it is frequent that improvements have been made not to enlarge the living space for family members but to have independent modules in the main household (through the construction of an additional floor or a garage) that could be rented to obtain additional income. In these homes, especially in large ones headed by women with one or several sons who have migrated successively, the retail business is customary, whereby remittances constitute a source of income among many others or gives impulse by investing in construction to the diversification of sources of income.

Despite the fact that persons as migrants suffer severely the growing lack of employment and that they receive low salaries, most of the survey participants perceive that in Spain the opportunities to accomplish their aspirations for a higher social and economic level are greater and that after a few years of endeavours and sacrifice it is possible to surpass the limits to achieve social standing. Contrary to that, Colombia is perceived pessimistically at a standstill and as a place where future expectations would be really limited.


The information of this page is extracted from the research “Gender and Remittances in the Center Western Metropolitan Area (AMCO)”, that is published in the Publication Section. For more information, please go to the “Case Studies” section.