Impacto de la inmigración en la economía localcasos de Lepe y Moguer en Huelva, España

Abstract

Dismantling the growing rejection of immigrants, which threatens social cohesion and thebalance of territories in a context of economic growth and development, involves understandingmigrations as a structural part of the new world order, of its public policies and, therefore, ofthe local reality as a vital space where the challenges and opportunities that potentially activeimmigrant populations represent converge. Various studies in the international and regionalsphere demonstrate from a macroeconomic approach, the impact of immigrant workers onthe economy; in 2015 ECLAC established that immigrants contributed approximately 6.7trillion dollars to global GDP, equivalent to 9.4% of global GDP (ECLAC, 2019), however, the lackof a system of variables applied systematically to measure the real impact of the immigrantpopulation on local economies, becomes the necessary breeding ground for misinformation,exclusion and confrontation between neighbors. This study analyzes the demographic andeconomic impact of immigration in the Tierra Llana of the province of Huelva (Andalusia,Spain) and especially in the towns of Lepe and Moguer, whose intensive agriculture definesa model of economic development that demands, during specific periods of the seasons, animportant labor force for harvesting, which is generally covered by immigrant workers. From amore comprehensive view of the economic and social relations that subsist, this study allowsus to provide quantitative and qualitative data that support the need to incorporate from thepublic and local level migrations as an unavoidable structural component of public policiesfor employment, development, and social welfare, to “leave no one behind” to achieve thesustainable development goals set out in the 2030 global agenda.