The Immigrant Fears of Europe ... are they real?

FT.com is echoing recent findings in Britain and American, regarding the positive effects immigrants can have on an economy.

In an article titled Migrants help tolerant Spain boom .

Spain's ability to absorb Europe's fastest-rising immigrant population without falling prey to the social tensions that have plagued France's poor suburbs or Britain's inner cities comes down to a combination of economics, demographics and national temperament, say immigration experts.

The Spanish economy has grown every year for the past decade and is expected to grow 3.7 per cent this year, according to European Union estimates. Unemployment is at its lowest level in 27 years, while an explosion in the construction industry has created hundreds of thousands of low-paid jobs.

Thanks Erkan .

I was surprised by the immigrant statistics at the end of this article:

Spain - population 44.4m - has 4.6m immigrants

The main countries of origin as at January 2006 are:
Morocco 580,000
Ecuador 396,00
Romania 373,000
United Kingdom 283,700*
Colombia 260,000
Germany 208,000

* The total number of Britons living in Spain including those not registered is estimated to be about 700,000