Pakistanis in Spain - Migration History

Migration History

Pakistanis began settling in Spain, mainly in the city center of Barcelona, as early as the 1970s, and most Pakistanis in Spain still reside there However, it took until November 2006 for the Pakistani government to approve plans to open a consulate there. They primarily trace their origins to the province of Punjab. Migrants largely consist of men; according to Spain's Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), only 13% are women. There are various conflicting data regarding the size of their community. 2004 figures from Pakistan's Ministry of Labour, Manpower, and Overseas Pakistanis show just 2,000 Pakistanis in Spain, which would make them the 15th-largest Pakistani community in Europe, or just 0.2% of the total number of Pakistanis in Europe. In contrast, the INE gave a figure for the year 2009 of more than twenty-six times that, 53,691, which represented growth of 27.5% over the 2007 figure of 42,105. Finally, some media reports around 2007 and 2008 give a figure of 70,000.