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Spain is a country that, for a very long time, has been building a 'national project' on the basis of a permanent exclusion, which has resulted in the progressive expulsion (during the last five centuries) of a huge contingent of people, especially to Latin America. Despite this, what is most contradictory in the Spain of today is that there is a pervasive tendency to regard immigration as the problem rather than emigration. In general terms, Spaniards are oblivious of the fact that there is such a big diaspora (that is, a dispersal of people that is the historical result of a constant emigration process), and they are barely beginning to be conscious of a renewed migratory flow, which is the consequence of the current global economic crisis that is also affecting the countries of southern Europe, including Spain, in a most profound way (Agulló, 2011).
Despite its 'invisibility', in comparative terms the Spanish diaspora is quite considerable. Although the exact number is unknown, people of Spanish descent who no longer have Spanish citizenship could be more than half the population of present-day Spain. While certain cultural characteristics still bind this diffuse diasporic population to Spain, the affiliation that finally counts is the one that relates to, or is imposed by, being a national of a particular Latin American country. Nevertheless, at the same time there are also Spaniards living outside their home country and continue to maintain not just certain links and an identification with Spain, but also retain their Spanish citizenship (nationality). Currently, there are 1.7 mn Spaniards in the diaspora, of whom 958 431 (some 56 per cent) reside in Latin America. They are scattered over the length and breadth of South America, and in Central America, Mexico, and some Caribbean island countries: there are diaspora contingents of more than 10,000 people in 22 countries in the region, with Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, and Cuba hosting the largest populations of people of Spanish descent. Obviously, the geographical spread of this diaspora is of strategic and quantitative significance: proportionally, there are more Spaniards living outside Spain (1-27.6) than French outside France (1-43), Indians outside India (1-46.6), and Australians outside Australia (1-62).
Another striking factor is the exponential growth which the Spanish diaspora population has...