Mexican immigration to Spain

Mexican immigration to Spain refers to the Mexican population in Spain and their Spanish-born descendants. The Mexicans living in Spain are composed primarily of students, skilled professionals, spouses of Spaniards, as well as Mexican citizens who also have Spanish nationality. In December 2008, the National Statistics Institute in Spain had 14,399^[3] registered Mexicans within its territory, of which 7,210 hold other nationalities of the European Union or are family members of EU citizens. To this number must be added those with dual nationality, who are not in Spanish records as foreigners. Mexican and Spanish laws allow dual citizenship, and many Mexicans who have asked for it, whether they are residents in Spain as grandchildren or they are children of Spanish migrants to Mexico. In 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico recorded 21,107 Mexicans living in Spain, who became the third largest Mexican community residing abroad, after the United States and Canada; and the largest Mexican community in Europe.^[4]

The main destinations of the Mexican community according to the INE, are the autonomous communities of Madrid with 4,138; Catalonia with 4,482 and Andalusia with 2,822. Of the Mexican migrants living in Spain, 61% are women, mainly from the Mexican states of Jalisco, Nuevo León, Veracruz, Baja California, Hidalgo, Puebla, Querétaro, Sinaloa, Yucatán, Chihuahua and Chiapas. The typical profile of the Mexican immigrant is a middle-aged individual from the upper-middle class, concentrated in Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville. There are many examples of graduate students who have built working relationships and emotional ties that lead to them remaining in Spain.^{[unreliable source?][5]}

Spain has always been the European country where the majority of Mexican emigrants to Europe go to, but since 2012, Mexican citizens are migrating more to other European countries, such as Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom, following the economic crisis that Spain has undergone in recent years.