Venezuelans in Spain live in greater poverty than those living in Latin America – 2024-09-18 09:12:52

According to a recent study by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE), the Venezuelan population in that country has grown by more than 3,200% in the years since Chávez came to power.

Yes ok There are no exact figures on how many Venezuelans there are in Spain.although many data indicate that there are 120,000 registered in the formal employment sector, there is data that in Spain there are 250,000, 320,000 or even 400,000 Venezuelans living throughout the territory, with Madrid being the largest colony of Venezuelans living in that country.

Although between 1995 and 2005 the Venezuelan population was no more than 10,000 or 50,000 people, most of them arrived with well-paid jobs and quickly achieved status. Today the situation is different. Although both the media and the Venezuelan government itself try to position that the Venezuelan living in Spain is “well-off”, the truth is that almost everywhere they live they already live in precarious situations such as low salaries, little possibility of accessing education or public health.

Many even migrate internally in Spain looking for “cheap” places to live. For example in regions such as In Castilla y León, Venezuelan migration has also found a place to settle But the conditions are not very favorable in the medium or long term.

For example, The Venezuelan who lives in Madrid does not exactly live in the “stately” part of the Spanish capital such as the Salamanca neighborhood but in neighborhoods such as Carabanchel and Vallecas that are dangerous and marginal.

Despite having studies, Venezuelans have not yet been adequately integrated into the labor market and as the exodus to Spain increasesit is increasingly difficult for a Venezuelan to access the labour market in a full manner. Many have even managed to accept that in certain Latin American countries they had “a slightly better quality of life.”

The reason is that the high cost of food and rent, the economic crisis and the inflation that is not letting up in Spain, coupled with Moroccan migration, have made life for Venezuelans more complicated over time.

The reason why many continue to go to Spain is above all because of the ease of obtaining residency, but despite this, their quality of life is deteriorating rapidly. That is why many are already giving themselves a time limit and if their situation does not improve, some do not even rule out returning to other Latin American countries from which they left not long ago, especially to dollarized territories such as Panama and Ecuador.