7 Billion Humans | Immigration: Immigrants From Former Spanish Empire arrive in Barcelona

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Immigrants From Former Spanish Empire arrive in Barcelona

Over 920,000 immigrants arrived in Spain during 2007, on top of the 802,971 new arrivals in 2006, 682,711 new arrivals in 2005, and 645,844 new arrivals in 2004.Immigrants from countries belonging to the former Spanish Empire, mainly Central and South America, plus Asia, the Philippines, and Africa (Equatorial and Western Sahara), can obtain Spanish nationality after legal and continuous residence of 2 years in Spain, after which naturalized citizens are no longer counted as immigrants.

Because of its location in the Iberian Peninsula, the territory comprising modern Spain has always been at the crossroads of human migration. Spain has experienced high population growth as a result of immigration flows, despite a birth rate that is only half of the replacement level.