Uruguay as country of origin, Spain as destiny: analysis of changes and continuities in the uruguayan migration

Abstract

Emigration has been a structural trend in Uruguay. The outflows always have significant increases during the periods of crises. Emigration may be considered as an important response of Uruguayan population to adverse circumstances. Some authors estimate that 16% percent of the Uruguayan population lives abroad. Spain constitutes the main pole of attraction for Uruguayan emigration. In the last forty years there were two important and different flows to Spain: the first in the seventies and the second, recently since 2002. The aim of this paper is to analyse the similarity and the differences between those flows, the economic and political causes of the specific context of origin and the main characteristics of the exile and of the recent Uruguayan migration to Spain. I also analyse the development of associative movements that links Uruguayan migrants and exiles in relation to their national belonging.