The economic, political and social chaos generated by Chavismo has made about 6.5 million people leave Venezuela since 1999, a flow comparable to that of countries at war.
Overcoming some Venezuelan migration index reveals how serious the situation of a country is, and Argentina, where uncontrolled inflation erodes income and economic instability pushes workers towards informality, succeeded: last year, the arrival of Argentines to Spain exceeded that of Venezuelans.
According to data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE), 32 .875 Argentines migrated to the European country in
, an increase of 83, 8% in relation to 2020.
Last year, 27.875 Venezuelans arrived in Spain. Both the country of Nicolás Maduro and Colombia, the South American country with the highest migration to Spanish territory, maintained a downward trend, while Argentina (see graph) had a significant reduction in 2020 (.857 Argentinians migrated to Spain), the first year of the pandemic, but later it presented at 2021 a level higher than that of 2019 (when they had been registered 21.83 migrants).
Last year, Colombia and Argentina ranked second and fourth, respectively, in the list of countries worldwide that sent the most migrants to Spain – Morocco, with 60.436 persons, and the United Kingdom, with 32.875 , were ranked first and third.
However, historian Xosé Manoel Núñez Seixas, a professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela, warned in an interview with the newspaper Clarín that the numbers of Argentine migration may be even higher, because many citizens with dual citizenship of the country ruled by Alberto Fernández enter Spanish territory with European passports – mainly Spanish or Italian.
Despite this unparalleled flow in recent history, Seixas highlighted that political and economic instability that Argentina has faced for decades has already generated other moments of great migration to Spain, which allowed the creation of a strong support network for newcomers.
“ Those who arrived fleeing the dictatorship [entre 1976 e 83]; those who arrived fleeing the great inflation [década de 1980]; those who arrived in 2002, 2002, 2003. They’ve been here for years, they’re well established. It’s a continuous drip. This generates ‘layers’ of established immigrants that serve as a bridge for others to arrive”, explained the professor.
Leandro Lázaro, one of the founders of the Argentinos reception group through Spain, emigrated 21 years ago. In an interview with the Spanish website Vozpópuli, he lamented that the endless crisis in Argentina continues to lead thousands of fellow countrymen to choose the same path – and projected that the numbers should continue to grow.
“We have little to say about the economy, we already know everything. An unprecedented and unsustainable inflation, which is leading our country to ruin. And that, in turn, ends up leading to insecurity, which was previously characteristic of only a few specific neighborhoods, [mas agora] has become widespread throughout the country, because poverty is on the streets”, criticized Lázaro. “Who wants to live in a country about to explode?”
