Immigration in Spain - A profile

The dream of most immigrants - at least when arriving to Spain - isn't to stay here. Rather its to strike it rich and then move back home. Striking it rich is relative, given that in many of the countries these people come from the monthly salary can be around 200 dollars. But with a small nest egg, perhaps a home that was built in the country of origin while living in Spain, and hopes of a small retirement pension, many immigrants are willing to take their chances living in a foreign country.

One such case is Cesar Augusto, who came with his cousin to visit Spain in 2002.

The two Venezuelans caught a flight from Caracas and arrived on three-month tourist visas. Like thousands before them, they didn't bother returning when the visas expired. "My cousin decided to stay, so I thought I'd stay to accompany him," said Augusto. "Besides, things are very bad in Venezuela."

And in Ecuador. And in Colombia. And in Argentina. And in Peru.

The economic and political upheaval in South America, along with a common language, have sent the numbers coming to Spain from that continent soaring into the hundreds of thousands, up from just tens of thousands at the turn of the century. That wave of late has been supplanted by workers from Eastern Europe as the borders drop and the European Union enlarges.

The face of Plaza Olavide has changed in the last 10 years. Nestled in the center of Madrid, the Chamberi neighborhood is one of the capital's most expensive areas to rent an apartment. But high prices haven't stopped poor immigrants from making this neighborhood their home to take advantage of its central location.

Apartments are often rented, and then subsequently sublet to dozens of people - the going price can reach 300 euros for the right to a slot in a bunkbed and to use a communal toilet down the hall. The purchase price for a 130 square meter apartment in Chamberi can easily touch 750,000 dollars. One industrious Ecuadorean woman sublet to 30 people to finance the spacious apartment - when no immigrants were living there - where she and her family were living. The living room was divided into three rooms by curtains. With the rent money she was able to purchase a second apartment - and then move her family to London.

In the central plaza nearby the playground is filled with a rainbow of children from Africa, China, Eastern Europe and Latin America. In general, their parents have more children than the average Spanish family, sometimes even more than in their home countries - one of the local Chinese merchants has three children.

A walk around the circular plaza shows Romanian bartenders, a Cuban carpenter, a Peruvian sweets vendor, a French florist, an Egyptian ice cream vendor, and an Ecuadorean family in competition with their Peruvian colleagues across the square - and both selling Spanish tapas and drinks on popular terraces.

Make no mistake - there is work in Spain for immigrants. But immigrants - and I include myself in that number, not only as a US citizen, but also via my Peruvian wife - have to be willing to do just that: work.

These waves of immigration have helped prop Spain's economy, both by contributing to its welfare system and by supplying unpopular work to crucial sectors, such as construction and services. Included in the services sector is tourism, which contributes 12% to Spain's gross domestic product, or construction. But there are concerns as the construction sector is now seen on the decline, with a recent report from the large Spanish bank BBVA even suggesting there could be losses of upwards of a quarter of million jobs.

The concern is where those people will turn - the vast majority of them being immigrants. Many are already taking courses sponsored by the govenment to learn new job skills. But the fear is not all will have taken such an oppo