Spain in the 1970s: foreigners made up just 0.46% of the population
In 1975, foreigners accounted for only 0.46% of Spain's population. A look at the numbers of the late Franco era and how they contrast with Spain today.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Late Franco-era Spain: 0.46% immigrants and a telling statistical anecdote
In 1975, Spain was a country of overwhelming demographic homogeneity. With 35.9 million inhabitants, foreigners with residence permits numbered barely 165,000 people — 0.46% of the census. Most were British, French, German and American, according to data from the era unearthed by Google AI. The figure contrasts starkly with today's 16% and serves to measure just how much the country has changed in half a century.
However, if the Roma population is included — a minority with centuries of roots but often rendered invisible — the percentage of non-ethnic Spaniards rises to 1.2-1.3% (some 250,000-300,000 Roma). But note: the Roma were and are full Spanish citizens. Any discussion of "foreigners" must keep the two concepts apart.
The anecdote that explains almost everything
In the mid-1970s, at the height of the decolonization fervour, a delegation from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) visited the Canary Islands to assess the situation of the black population there. In Tenerife there were fewer than 40 such people: Guinean students and seminarians on scholarships in La Laguna. With no oppression to document, the commission left the way it had come. By 1995, the numbers were still negligible. A metaphor for a Spain that, apart from the people of Ceuta and Melilla and a few very specific groups, knew almost nothing of immigration.
Today, with the immigration debate once again at the centre, those figures seem to come from another planet. But they also serve as a reminder that homogeneous Spain was a historical exception, not the norm.
(Article based on AI-generated estimates and testimonies from the era.)
Related discussions in the forum
In 1975, Spain was a country of overwhelming demographic homogeneity. With 35.9 million inhabitants, foreigners with residence permits numbered barely 165,000 people — 0.46% of the census. Most were British, French, German and American, according to data from the era unearthed by Google AI. The figure contrasts starkly with today's 16% and serves to measure just how much the country has changed in half a century.
However, if the Roma population is included — a minority with centuries of roots but often rendered invisible — the percentage of non-ethnic Spaniards rises to 1.2-1.3% (some 250,000-300,000 Roma). But note: the Roma were and are full Spanish citizens. Any discussion of "foreigners" must keep the two concepts apart.
The anecdote that explains almost everything
In the mid-1970s, at the height of the decolonization fervour, a delegation from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) visited the Canary Islands to assess the situation of the black population there. In Tenerife there were fewer than 40 such people: Guinean students and seminarians on scholarships in La Laguna. With no oppression to document, the commission left the way it had come. By 1995, the numbers were still negligible. A metaphor for a Spain that, apart from the people of Ceuta and Melilla and a few very specific groups, knew almost nothing of immigration.
Today, with the immigration debate once again at the centre, those figures seem to come from another planet. But they also serve as a reminder that homogeneous Spain was a historical exception, not the norm.
(Article based on AI-generated estimates and testimonies from the era.)
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (15 replies).
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