Descriptive Political Representation of Latin Americans in Spanish Local Politics: Demographic Concentration, Political Opportunities, and Parties’ Inclusiveness

Abstract

Latin Americans represent one of the most sizable migrant communities in Spain. Yet, unlike other minority groups, they count with longer migration tradition, linguistic and cultural similarities with the Spanish population, and easier access to Spanish nationality. Drawing on original data covering a large number of candidates ( N = 5,055), this article examines whether this apparently favorable configuration guarantees the nomination of candidates from this minority group at local elections in municipalities with strong demographic presence of Latin American residents. Our findings indicate that this group is still underrepresented in Spanish politics. Few Latin American candidates are fielded by political parties, and even fewer (<2%) manage to achieve elected office. To interpret these results, we examine the extent to which Spanish parties field minority candidates. We show that while some parties are proactively including these candidates, only few nominate them in secure positions of the electoral lists and that Spanish parties’ inclusiveness does not seem to be aligned with Latin American voters’ partisan preferences.

Diversity in Spanish Politics? Dynamics of Descriptive Representation of Immigrant‐Origin Minorities in Local Elections

“…Recently, this pattern also started to be identified in Southern Europe, which has experienced a different immigration trajectory of rapid inflows since the mid-2000s. Although little is known about the access of distinct migrant communities to Spanish politics in particular, some recent contributions point towards their general under-representation in local councils (Ciornei, 2014;Pamies et al, 2021;Pérez-Nievas et al, 2014), national/regional parliaments (Vintila & Morales, 2018), and parties (Zapata-Barrero & Burchianti, 2014). However, the factors behind the recruitment and election of minority candidates in Spanish municipal assemblies remain understudied.…”

Combined Effects of Cultural-Linguistic Proximity and Naturalization on Political Integration of First-Generation Immigrants

“…Given the advantages that having the predominant language of the host society as mother tongue can provide, particularly in the initial phases after arrival, it is not surprising the pulling effect that the fast-expanding Spanish economy of the 2000's had on a number of Latin-American nationalities, to which Spain offered linguistic and cultural proximity and thus (potentially) lower cost of integration (Connor & Massey, 2010;Joppke, 2005;Pamies et al, 2021). Although Latin-American immigrants may still face discrimination based on their accent, or other difficulties (particularly in Spanish regions with co-official regional languages), the advantage that Spanish as predominant language provides to Latin-Americans in relation to other migrant minorities cannot be overrated.…”