How Immigration Transformed Europe’s Most Conservative Capital
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Books & the Arts
/ January 28, 2026
How Immigration Transformed Europe’s Most Conservative Capital
Madrid has changed greatly since 1975, at once opening itself to immigrants from Latin America while also doubling down on conservative politics.
Sebastiaan Faber and Bécquer Seguín
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The skyline of Madrid seen during twilight from the roof top of the Riu Plaza Madrid, 2019.
(Jörg Schüler / Getty Images)
At the end of 2024, Spain’s National Institute for Statistics published a revealing figure: the number of Latin American–born residents in the Madrid region had, for the first time, surpassed 1 million—1,038,671, to be exact, or about 15 percent of the total population. Today, more Latin Americans live in Madrid than in Santiago (Cuba), Arequipa (Peru), or Valparaíso (Chile). This is all the more remarkable given that just a quarter-century ago, Madrid’s Latin American–born population barely surpassed 80,000.
Books in review
Madrid: A New Biography
by Luke Stegemann
Buy this book
For anyone who has spent time in Madrid in recent years, however, these statistics will not come as a surprise. If you wander around the city’s northern district of Tetuán, near the Alvarado metro station, you’ll find yourself in Little Santo Domingo, a compact arrangement of streets lined with hairdressers, grocery stands, cell phone shops, clothing stores, and restaurants catering to the neighborhood’s large population of Dominicans, many of whom are already second-generation Spanish citizens. Take the metro from Alvarado some 14 stops south and you’ll arrive at Puente de Vallecas, on the far side of the Manzanares River, another corner of the so-called Latin American triangle. The district, which houses tens of thousands of working-class families of Colombian, Peruvian, and Venezuelan origin, is also home to the 100-year-old football club Rayo Vallecano. Shortly after Rayo signed Colombian stars like Radamel Falcao and James Rodríguez several years ago, a wave of yellow jerseys began washing over the stands of the Vallecas soccer stadium, representing the Colombian national team colors, drowning out the red-and-white of Rayo’s famous thunderbolt jersey—itself reminiscent of the Peruvian national team kit.
None of this existed before 1998. During the decades following the death of Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, most madrileños from Latin America were political exiles. From well-to-do families, and often of Spanish or European descent, they had arrived in the capital fleeing the regimes in Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. After 1998, this mostly Southern Cone bourgeoisie was joined by …
This affects the entire country.
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Current Issue
Books & the Arts
/ January 28, 2026
How Immigration Transformed Europe’s Most Conservative Capital
Madrid has changed greatly since 1975, at once opening itself to immigrants from Latin America while also doubling down on conservative politics.
Sebastiaan Faber and Bécquer Seguín
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
The skyline of Madrid seen during twilight from the roof top of the Riu Plaza Madrid, 2019.
(Jörg Schüler / Getty Images)
At the end of 2024, Spain’s National Institute for Statistics published a revealing figure: the number of Latin American–born residents in the Madrid region had, for the first time, surpassed 1 million—1,038,671, to be exact, or about 15 percent of the total population. Today, more Latin Americans live in Madrid than in Santiago (Cuba), Arequipa (Peru), or Valparaíso (Chile). This is all the more remarkable given that just a quarter-century ago, Madrid’s Latin American–born population barely surpassed 80,000.
Books in review
Madrid: A New Biography
by Luke Stegemann
Buy this book
For anyone who has spent time in Madrid in recent years, however, these statistics will not come as a surprise. If you wander around the city’s northern district of Tetuán, near the Alvarado metro station, you’ll find yourself in Little Santo Domingo, a compact arrangement of streets lined with hairdressers, grocery stands, cell phone shops, clothing stores, and restaurants catering to the neighborhood’s large population of Dominicans, many of whom are already second-generation Spanish citizens. Take the metro from Alvarado some 14 stops south and you’ll arrive at Puente de Vallecas, on the far side of the Manzanares River, another corner of the so-called Latin American triangle. The district, which houses tens of thousands of working-class families of Colombian, Peruvian, and Venezuelan origin, is also home to the 100-year-old football club Rayo Vallecano. Shortly after Rayo signed Colombian stars like Radamel Falcao and James Rodríguez several years ago, a wave of yellow jerseys began washing over the stands of the Vallecas soccer stadium, representing the Colombian national team colors, drowning out the red-and-white of Rayo’s famous thunderbolt jersey—itself reminiscent of the Peruvian national team kit.
None of this existed before 1998. During the decades following the death of Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, most madrileños from Latin America were political exiles. From well-to-do families, and often of Spanish or European descent, they had arrived in the capital fleeing the regimes in Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. After 1998, this mostly Southern Cone bourgeoisie was joined by …
How Immigration Transformed Europe’s Most Conservative Capital
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Current Issue
Books & the Arts
/ January 28, 2026
How Immigration Transformed Europe’s Most Conservative Capital
Madrid has changed greatly since 1975, at once opening itself to immigrants from Latin America while also doubling down on conservative politics.
Sebastiaan Faber and Bécquer Seguín
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
The skyline of Madrid seen during twilight from the roof top of the Riu Plaza Madrid, 2019.
(Jörg Schüler / Getty Images)
At the end of 2024, Spain’s National Institute for Statistics published a revealing figure: the number of Latin American–born residents in the Madrid region had, for the first time, surpassed 1 million—1,038,671, to be exact, or about 15 percent of the total population. Today, more Latin Americans live in Madrid than in Santiago (Cuba), Arequipa (Peru), or Valparaíso (Chile). This is all the more remarkable given that just a quarter-century ago, Madrid’s Latin American–born population barely surpassed 80,000.
Books in review
Madrid: A New Biography
by Luke Stegemann
Buy this book
For anyone who has spent time in Madrid in recent years, however, these statistics will not come as a surprise. If you wander around the city’s northern district of Tetuán, near the Alvarado metro station, you’ll find yourself in Little Santo Domingo, a compact arrangement of streets lined with hairdressers, grocery stands, cell phone shops, clothing stores, and restaurants catering to the neighborhood’s large population of Dominicans, many of whom are already second-generation Spanish citizens. Take the metro from Alvarado some 14 stops south and you’ll arrive at Puente de Vallecas, on the far side of the Manzanares River, another corner of the so-called Latin American triangle. The district, which houses tens of thousands of working-class families of Colombian, Peruvian, and Venezuelan origin, is also home to the 100-year-old football club Rayo Vallecano. Shortly after Rayo signed Colombian stars like Radamel Falcao and James Rodríguez several years ago, a wave of yellow jerseys began washing over the stands of the Vallecas soccer stadium, representing the Colombian national team colors, drowning out the red-and-white of Rayo’s famous thunderbolt jersey—itself reminiscent of the Peruvian national team kit.
None of this existed before 1998. During the decades following the death of Spain’s dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, most madrileños from Latin America were political exiles. From well-to-do families, and often of Spanish or European descent, they had arrived in the capital fleeing the regimes in Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. After 1998, this mostly Southern Cone bourgeoisie was joined by …
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