Experts note the tourist nature of the Russian diaspora in Spain
According to CIS data, as of July 1, 2017, 71,845 Russian citizens were registered in the country, 48,297 of them women. The average age of Russians living in Spain, according to CIS, is 47 years, 75 percent have higher education. Statistics compiled from municipal registers indicate that approximately 60,000 of the total number of Russians live in seaside resort areas: in Catalonia, Valencia and Andalusia, as well as on the Balearic and Canary Islands. Many of them do not work.
'Resident Tourists'
CIS employee, Doctor of Sociology Gabriela Rospide stated in an interview with Deutsche Welle that the majority of the Russian diaspora, unlike citizens of other Eastern European countries, are not labor migrants. These people, who have substantial incomes in their homeland, came here not in search of work at all, but only for 'serene living'. CIS calls this category of foreigners 'permanent holidaymakers' or 'resident tourists', the sociologist explained.
The tourist nature of the Russian diaspora is also confirmed by the places of compact residence of its representatives, the expert further noted. Labor immigration usually concentrates in large cities, where there are more chances to find work. The Russian one – in resort seaside towns, and in the most elite ones, where, naturally, there is no industrial or agricultural production, and the pastime of the inhabitants is year-round recreation: on the beach or by a private pool.
The predominance of women in the statistical summary, according to the sociologist, is explained by the fact that Russian men, as a rule, do not register with municipalities. Such registration is not mandatory for foreigners. It is mainly needed by low-income people who use the free healthcare system, education, social assistance or employment services. However, registration is also needed for those who purchase real estate. According to statistics, women are also the main owners of housing in the Russian diaspora, noted Dr. Rospide.
'Invisible' to Statistics
Valencia lawyer Pedro Crespo, owner of a law firm working with Russians, said that his clients are most afraid that information about their activities in Spain will reach their homeland. The questions most often asked by Russian citizens, the lawyer noted, concern the possibility of concealing information. Russian clients are interested, for example, in whether Spanish authorities can guarantee the secrecy of real estate purchases, opening bank accounts, as well as the fact of municipal registration if competent Russian authorities contact them.
'Having learned that Spain does not guarantee such secrets, my clients – and these are mainly politicians, high-ranking officials and entrepreneurs – decide to own and use the acquired property in Spain incognito,' says Crespo. They open bank accounts and purchase real estate in the names of their wives, lovers, mothers, mothers-in-law, who, as a rule, are not connected with government structures in Russia, do not work and can be in Spain permanently. 'In my practice, there was a case where property worth 10 million euros was purchased in the name of a pensioner who, when filling out documents, indicated that she had previously been a teacher,' says the lawyer.
Labor Immigration
Although the majority of the Russian diaspora are 'resident tourists', there are also labor migrants from Russia in Spain, adds sociologist Gabriela Rospide. There are few of them, they live mainly in cities and work in construction and services, help with housework, care for children and the elderly in Spanish families. Russian musicians and Russian language teachers work in the country. There are also entrepreneurs, mostly involved in the sale and rental of real estate in resorts.
Unlike 'resident tourists', labor diasporas of migrants are usually young – their average age does not exceed 30 years, the sociologist concluded.