Young Portuguese and Spanish professionals are beginning to cast their dreams overseas and/or on online jobs or virtual offices. Some of them are fresh out of school, some just about to graduate, and others have years of experience to their name. But the one thing they have in common is an increasing lack of confidence in their own country.
Portugal has been in dire economic straits for the last two years, and employment was just one of many sectors that felt the pinch. Its acceptance of the euro-zone and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout earlier this year was seen by many as the last straw. A similar crisis seems to be in the works in Spain, aggravated by a looming real estate bubble.
It seems to have sparked an emigration wave not unlike the ones that drove Spaniards and Portuguese workers to the Americas from the 1950s to the 1970s. This time, however, they are flocking to their European neighbors, encouraged by the recent euro-zone economic boom.
Canada and the U.S. remain popular destinations, but France, Germany, and the rest of Western Europe are luring a larger number of immigrants. Some 600,000 people have already left Spain to look for greener pastures in Germany, according to the German agency Deutsche-Presse Agentur.
Spain and Portugal suffered serious blows from the 2008 recession. Portugal’s weak economic structure crumbled early on, but its larger neighbour has so far remained on its feet. However, the Spanish economy has grown at a snail’s pace for several years running, and its 20% unemployment rate is the highest in the euro-zone.
Portugal’s new Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, who replaced José Sócrates on June 21, has warned his people of difficult times ahead, with the economy expected to shrink by 2% in the next two years. Unemployment is currently at 12.6%.
The emigration wave is one of the biggest Portugal’s recent history, according to some experts, although no exact figures are available. Besides Europe and the Americas, the Portuguese are moving to former colonies such as Brazil, where at least there is no language barrier. Others have fled as far as China. The construction sector has been particularly hard-hit, making emigration particularly attractive to architects, engineers, and manual laborers.
In a similar vein, immigration to the two countries has gone down. Immigrants from Africa and Latin America are opting for the U.S., Canada, and even Australia, whereas their Iberian neighbors were once more attractive destinations.
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