“Spain is my home”: mobility in the Romanian diaspora

Abstract

Over the three decades that have passed since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the eastern bloc, the Romanian community has been the most mobile in the EU, and became the largest in Spain in 2012. Although the crisis that began in 2008 forced some to return to Romania, or to move to other European countries, many have since returned to the peninsula. What are the mobility pathways of Romanians before, during and after the crisis, and why do some return to Spain? To answer this question, an analysis was made of the different types of mobility strategies for escaping the crisis and of Facebook groups, as well as fieldwork including life story interviews and follow-up. The result raises the concept of “return mobility” and shows why many Romanians say “Spain is my home”

Keywords

• spain
• romania
• romanian immigration
• return mobility
• strategies
• crisis
• facebook