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Migrants' transnational housing investments are a relatively overlooked field to explore the workings of so-called migration industries, as we do, in this paper, through a case study of Ecuadorian migration. Based on fieldwork with two real estate agencies in Madrid and visits to their housing projects in Quito, we show how these companies support Ecuadorians' collective socio-cultural practices in Madrid, in order to capitalise on their potential to invest in the homeland. As the agencies claim, migrants who buy properties in Ecuador do not just pursue their own interest. They also display their unremitting attachment to the country, besides paving the way for a 'successful' return. As our analysis reveals, housing investments can indeed facilitate migrant's physical, emotional, and existential mobility. However, the repertoire of 'Ecuadorianness' these agencies deploy in Spain has little to do with the symbols and imaginaries of modernity and success on which their real estate developments in Ecuador rely. This reveals the inherent tensions in status and life projects between immigration and emigration contexts, and the role of transnational housing investments in mediating them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El destacado auge de la inmigración en España durante la última década ha tenido consecuencias sociales y educativas de gran alcance, poniendo de relieve la importancia de una buena gestión de los flujos, a fin de conjurar en lo posible el peligro de segregación para familias y alumnos de origen foráneo. En este artículo tratamos de analizar cómo se distribuye el alumnado de origen inmigrante en los centros educativos gallegos. Después de la aplicación de los correspondientes índices, comprobamos que los niveles de segregación en la citada Comunidad Autónoma son objetivamente bajos. Terminamos dando cuenta de varias razones que podrían explicar este hecho diferencial respecto del conjunto estatal. Y concluimos que todos los esfuerzos en contra de la segregación escolar precisan anteponer primero la efectividad en los resultados a la calidad en los procesos.The significant immigration boom in Spain over the last decade has had far-reaching social and educational consequences, highlighting the importance of good management of migratory flows in order to avert as much as possible the danger of segregation for families and students of foreign origin. This article is aimed at analysing the way pupils of immigrant origin are distributed in Galician educational institutions. After applying the relevant indices, we found that the levels of segregation in the above-mentioned autonomous community are objectively low. The paper ends by providing possible explanations that could account for this difference with respect to other parts of Spain. In addition, we conclude that all efforts against school segregation require putting the effectiveness of the results before the quality of the processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of regularization of immigrants has occupied a position high on the agenda in Spain and elsewhere. In this paper, we contribute to this particular issue by providing an evaluative case study in Spain using administrative data from the Province of Barcelona from 2005 to 2009, which allows survival analysis, the follow-up of migrants' trajectories after regularization and the examination of the hazard of lapsing back into irregularity. Our analysis reveals critical differences on the effectiveness of two pathways to earned legalization in Spain as a policy: the 2005 Normalisation and the Settlement Program in full operation since 2006. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using representative national surveys, this paper compares economic outcomes among Latin American migrants to Spain and the United States in the first cross-national comparison using quantitative data. Considering the geographic location and social proximity of each country with respect to Latin America, we detect a critical selection effect whereby the majority of Latin American migrants to Spain originate in South America from middle class backgrounds, whereas most migrants to the United States are Central Americans of lower class origins. This selection effect accounts for cross-national differences in the probability of employment, occupational attainment, and wages earned. Despite differences in the origins and characteristics of Latino immigrants to each country, demographic and human and social capital factors appear to operate similarly in both places; and when models are estimated separately by legal status, we find that effects are more accentuated for undocumented compared with documented migrants, especially in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines determinants of aspirations and expectations among children of immigrants based on a statistically representative sample of 3,375 second generation youths interviewed in 101 public and private secondary schools in metropolitan Madrid. We review the past literature on status attainment in general and aspirations and expectations, in particular, and draw from it a set of six hypotheses to guide the analysis. Most theoretical statements in this field have been developed on the basis of U.S. data; studies in other immigrant-receiving countries, especially outside the Anglophone world, have been scarce. The study thus provides an opportunity to test and refine existing hypotheses in a different national context. We present breakdowns of educational and occupational aspirations and expectations by gender, parental education and type of school attended. This is followed by multivariate regressions of all four dependent variables on these three plus other predictors suggested by the research literature. This analysis ends with structural equation models - recursive and non-recursive - that provide an integrated theoretical statement of the causal structure of ambition in the Spanish context. Implications of our findings for theory and policy are examined. Suggestions for future research in this field are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends the literature on the internal migration patterns of the foreign-born by analyzing the situation in Spain, a country affected by recent but very significant migratory flows. We utilize a standard theoretical framework in order to assess the relative importance of human capital, economic, and social capital indicators. To this end, we take advantage of a new micro database, the National Immigrant Survey ( Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes– ENI-2007). Our findings suggest that the main theories explaining internal migration patterns of the foreign-born are at least partly true. Evidence is presented in support of the importance of education and knowledge of the native language, income, and networks based on the sharing of social capital among family members, though less so for those based on friends and acquaintances. Spanish citizenship and employment status seem to be less important in explaining the propensity to move within the country. We argue that the lack of significance of some indicators is due mainly to the fact that Spain has become a major destination only very recently as well as to the way different immigrant groups tend to implement strategies for promotion and integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]