Current European residential mobility in the context of the historic relationship between Spain and Europe

Abstract

In the first decade of this century, Spain, which already had a long trajectory as an exceptional tourist destination, prepared to receive a deluge of people from North and Central Europe, who chose our country as their place of residence. The phenomenon could be characterised as a further step in the choosing of lifestyles in contemporary societies, and as one of the most important tests of international freedom of movement and the rights of citizenship of all Europeans. This text wishes to expand on aspects of social interaction and the anthropological relationship of the new residents and the native population, also European; at the same time as echoing the diverse critical attitudes that this social experiment provokes in the social sciences. It will attempt to achieve this by placing it in the context of the historical relations between Spain and Europe and the sense of desperation caused by the situation of the world crisis in which we live.