Today, Ecuadorians are the largest immigrant group in Spain, outnumbering Moroccans, who continuously risk their lives crossing the Strait of Gibraltar aboard flimsy boats.
According to the Spanish Ministry for Immigration, the number of Ecuadorians in the country has gone from 2,000 in 1995, to 84,000 in 2001 and 375,000 in 2003. The real number could be 500,000 or higher, since many are undocumented.
Colombians living in Spain have also grown exponentially, from a little over 7,000 in 1993 to more than 80,000 in 2002 and 244,000 in 2003. It is estimated that over 300,000 Argentines entered Spain around 2001, after that country's economic collapse.
According to a study by the Interamerican Development Bank, in early 2003 Latin Americans in Spain were sending about 706 million euros (about $900 million) annually back to their home countries.
"Like the United States, Europe requires cheap labor from other countries," says Adela Ros, secretary for immigration for the region of Catalunya, Spain. "Our labor markets rely a great deal on that labor. Many do not want to recognize that fact."
Spain's birth rate is the lowest in Europe. According to the United Nations Population Division, Spain needs 12 million immigrants from now until 2050 just to maintain labor force levels.
"Many women work as domestics, which helps Spanish women to move in the labor market," Paspuel says. "Men work in construction, industry, commerce, hotels in the main cities, like Madrid and Barcelona, and in agriculture in Murcia and Valencia. The immigrants are doing the jobs that Spanish people won't do now that they have moved up the economic scale."
From the article "Immigration Shift: Many Latin Americans Choosing Spain Over U.S. Dec. 4, 2004
So what's the big deal about Latin Americans being in Spain? The fact is, most of Latin America has had access to the Gospel for many years. Early missionaries to the jungles of Ecuador, Peru and the rest of the continent are to thank for the explosion of evangelicals in Latin America today. The Spanish church, like most of Europe, has seen slow growth. And the few that claim to be Christ followers don't always reach past their own stereotypes of Latin Americans being the step-child of Spain.
Therefore God, being the strategic God that He is, seems to be mobilizing a work force greater than any sending agency could find. He is bringing evangelical Latin Americans to Spain. They are filling many Spanish churches and many seem to have an enthusiasm for God that puts paid laborers for the Gospel to shame.
God seems to know what He is doing. One American helping a group of Latin Americans do water and Bible distribution commented, "The Muslims would hardly speak to me, but they readily spoke with any of the Latin Americans. They seemed leery of us westerners."
If this is true, then how can workers in Spain hoping to share the Gospel with Muslims utilize their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? Many Westerners are noting this reality and are beginning to seek out ways to work with Latin Americans. In some instances, it means the Westerner takes more of a back seat role while equipping the Latin Americans to do the front line work. An American woman who worked in a Middle East country for a number years stated, "Latin Americans are making huge strides in the Muslim world. They are able to connect well with Muslims because so many aspects of their culture are similar. Latin Americans are often able to build closer relationships with Muslims than Americans and Europeans have in the past."
Be praying for our Latin American brothers and sisters in Spain. They may have come to work, but God has brought them here to tell the story of His Son.
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