Economic crisis sees numbers of young Spanish migrants almost double

With the effects of the 2008 economic meltdown still being felt across the EU, Spain’s young people are increasingly being forced to emigrate in order to find work.

Spain’s jobless rate amongst its young people is now standing at over 56 per cent and is still rising as the country’s economy fails to recover from the effects of the financial crash. As a result the numbers of young Spaniards leaving the country in a desperate bid to find work have increased by 41 per cent.

Figures released by the National Statistics Institute show that 2012 was the third year running in which population numbers were decimated by migration. A total of 59,724 young Spaniards out of 476,748 emigrants left the country, with most heading for either Britain or Ecuador.

Of the nationals who left to find a future including job opportunities overseas,14,084 were between the ages of 20 and 34, a figure which will have included graduates, professionals and skilled workers. France and Germany were other popular destinations, and Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Columbia, Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking South American countries received their share of Spain’s brightest and best.

Ecuador in particular was found to be attractive to those in the education sector, with jobs offered to over 5,000 professionals in the field from teachers in primary and high schools up to university professors. The country is seeking to cover a serious shortage of qualified teachers in all regions, and its capital, Quito, is badly in need of more than 1200 high school and primary school teachers.