The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Romanian Communities from the Province of Ciudad Real, Spain. The Villarrubia de los Ojos Case

The consequences of the economic crisis that started in 2007 strongly affect the Spanish economy and increase the vulnerability of the immigrant population from Spain, in the context of the deepened deficiencies on the labor market and the changes in the migration policies from this country. The method of approaching the research involves the demographic and spatial analysis in Geographical Information Systems, at variable scales, starting from the national state level, with a focus on the Romanians’ immigration in the Province of Ciudad Real and the Villarrubia de los Ojos locality. The spatial analysis is performed based on statistical indicators such as: the structure on gender and age groups of the Romanian immigrants from the Region of Ciudad Real, the unemployment rate of the immigrants and of the Spanish as well, the dynamics in the number of companies and of labor contracts from the sectors involving immigrants, the correlation between the number of immigrants and structure of agricultural areas, the structure of the immigrant school population, etc. The decline of the real estate market, due to the global economic crisis, has generated, within the immigrants’ families, strategies of re-migration and re-orientation on the labor market. The Spanish migration policy increases the vulnerability of the Romanian communities from Spain by reintroducing restrictions on the labor market, for the Romanian workers, starting with 22nd of July 2011.