Immigration and Entrepreneurship in Spain

By CarpoACE Europe

Our BUSThink project addresses the issue of older adult migrants who want to start a business in Spain, Italy and Belgium. Our organization, CarpoACE Europe SL, is the representative of Spain, and as applicants to the Spanish National Agency (SEPIE) of the Erasmus+ project, we have documented ourselves prior to the drafting of the project and we have incorporated a specific activity in which we have carried out qualitative research.

Taking into account the limitations of the scope of the project, we have carried out focus groups and in-depth interviews to better understand the reality of older adult migrants in the target we have focused on to select the 5 beneficiaries we will mentor so that they can develop the business plans of their business ideas. As we have done in Spain, the other two partner organisations of the BUSThink project consortium (Solis Srls from Italy and PFE from Belgium) have carried out the same in their countries, Italy and Belgium. The results of this qualitative research will also be published on the project website, and a specific article is planned for this blog, in which we will relate these results to this article.

When researching the issue of immigrant entrepreneurs in Spain, we have been able to see that interest in it has increased in recent years and that the conclusions are very diverse, as explained in the conclusions of the paper "Immigrant entrepreneurship in Spain: a systematic review" (Madrid, 2019) 1:

"Spain as a destination for immigrants is relatively new compared to other nearby countries. This explains the recent emergence of research on immigration in general and on the migrant economy in particular. However, the available work offers a rich range of theories and cross-cutting themes that reflect the complexity of the topic."

This study also determines something that we have been able to corroborate in our qualitative research regarding the motivations for which migrants decide to become entrepreneurs: need vs. opportunity:

"The research highlights the different types of companies with a migrant background in Spain. This reflects the impact of different theories on the situation of migrant enterprises and the flexibility of interpretation. The categorization has been carried out according to motivations with a distinction between need and opportunity. The results show that both motivations coexist. Some ethnic minority groups are more prone to opportunity because of their greater social, class, and human resources. However, there is a large part that responds to the need."

This research distinguishes between 2 types of markets: open market and ethnic market:

"The categories are also based on the type of market they serve, distinguishing between open market and ethnic market. In Spain, they are mostly oriented to the open market and this includes businesses that initially serve the ethnic market such as halal butcher shops. In this case, the adoption of survival strategies has pushed them more towards convenience stores that cater to the neighborhood. Access to property through the chain of vacancies also explains the bias towards the open market."

He also distinguishes differences in motivations, depending on gender:

"Gender occupies an important place in research papers that show that motivations are diverse. Social status plays an important role for women entrepreneurs as a catalyst for the social ascent of the family. But for another group, the pursuit of personal satisfaction and independence, along with the flexibility to balance professional and family life, are the other decisive factors."

The study also addresses the transnationality of businesses undertaken by immigrants and the reasons why it occurs:

"In Spain, the research also demonstrated the transnationality of ethnic minority companies linked to specific groups, as well as the level of education. The transnational family is a pillar that allows the business to progress while fostering family growth. This is reflected in the patterns of role distribution. The parents work in the business and the family that remains in origin takes care of the children. Links with the country of origin facilitate the creation of transnational corporations and their diversification. The crisis has also intensified transnational links as a survival strategy."

 

We have also found information of interest in the article "SUCCESS STORIES - Migrants are pillars of entrepreneurship in Spain", published on the website of the PODER MIGRANTE 2 network, where the importance for the Spanish economy of entrepreneurship carried out by the immigrant group is described:

"Spain has found an unexpected ally on its way to economic recovery: migrant entrepreneurship. A recent report reveals that foreign self-employed workers are driving entrepreneurship in Spain at a rate that is twice that of nationals. This is not only positive news, but also proof of the vital contribution of immigrants to the country's economy."

And he supports this statement with the following figures:

"In just two years, more than 46,500 immigrants have decided to join the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA), reaching a total of 426,002 affiliates in September of this year" (2023). "This figure represents approximately 13% of the total number of RETA affiliates. Which sectors have experienced this phenomenal growth? Hospitality, construction, professional and scientific activities, and transport stand out as the drivers of this growth."

"To put it in perspective, in September 2021, Spain had 3,319,875 self-employed workers affiliated to the RETA, including 379,445 foreign self-employed workers. In the same period of 2022, a total increase of 9,988 self-employed workers was registered, reaching a total of 3,329,863 affiliates. In September 2023, we saw an additional growth of 9,470 self-employed workers, reaching a record number of affiliations to the system with 3,339,333 self-employed workers."

All this information reaffirms the need to know in depth about the issue related to immigrants who wish to start a business in Spain, as well as to develop initiatives that facilitate the realization of them, as our BUSThink project intends, contributing its grain of sand in this problem.

 1 María Vitores, Mercedes Fernández, Raquel Caro, Instituto Universitario de Estudios sobre Migraciones, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid, España (Abril, 2019).

 2 Poder Migrante: Artículo ““HISTORIAS DE ÉXITO - Migrantes son pilares del emprendimiento en España” https://podermigrante.es/2023/10/30/historias-exito-migrantes-pilares-emprendimiento-espana/ ; (Dic.2023).