On the boundaries of social exclusion: Immigration and homelessness in Spain

Abstract

Immigration is one of the most important phenomena occurring in the early 21st century. In less than one decade, Spain has gone from being a sender of emigrants to become a major destination for immigrants, receiving people from geographical areas and cultural backgrounds that differ greatly from our traditions. In the last two years, the immigrant population has most suffered the effects of the economic crisis, revealing their extreme social vulnerability. The most significant of these effects has been the rise in homelessness among immigrants and the fact that many immigrants have been unable to normalize their situation in Spanish society and suffer extreme social exclusion. In this paper, we show the results obtained in an ongoing investigation on homelessness that was first begun in 1998 by the Study Group on Social Trends (GETS) of the National Distance University (UNED). We also provide data from the Fifth Inventory on the Homeless conducted in Madrid in 2010, and information from reports on the resources available throughout Spain to attend to the needs of homeless people. The principal conclusions are that the internationalization of extreme social exclusion is a reality in Spain and that this problem is likely to worsen in coming years.