Coexistence of Paradigms? Residential Segregation in Spain after Mass Migration

Albert Sabater, Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics (CED)
Andreu Domingo, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Juan Galeano, Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics (CED)

Introduction: Although the replication of sequences from clustering to dispersal by immigrant groups has become apparent in Spain, we argue that the current picture of immigrants’ settlement patterns is more complex than the projected by the traditional assimilationist perspective. Aim: We investigate the co-existence of assimilation, pluralism and heterolocal tendencies in Spain after a decade of mass international migration. Data: We use annual population data between 2000 and 2010 derived from Municipal Registers across the smallest census geographies for all municipalities in Spain. Method: We analyze three separate aspects of the residential patterns of immigrant groups: evenness, exposure and encapsulation. Results: The findings allow us to confirm that whilst some immigrant groups replicate the assimilation path of outward spatial movement gradually, some purse the pluralist path by huddling together in spatial enclaves and others become heterolocal by virtue of immediate dispersal after arrival.