Podcast Summary: "Acontece que no es poco | Datos para Feijóo: precedentes en la historia de crisis migratorias"

Podcast: Todo Concostrina (SER Podcast)
Host: Nieves Concostrina
Guest/Co-host: Carlos
Date: October 13, 2025

Main Theme & Overview

In this episode, Nieves Concostrina tackles political claims about an “unprecedented migration crisis” in Spain, specifically those made by politician Núñez Feijóo. With her characteristic humor and historical insight, Concostrina aims to unpack the realities and precedents of migration from and to Spain, debunking current misconceptions by reviewing several significant migratory movements involving Spaniards both as emigrants and immigrants. The discussion is designed to provide context, clarity, and historical perspective to a topic often clouded by misinformation and political rhetoric.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Political Claims and Historical Amnesia

• Myth-Busting Feijóo’s Statement
  Nieves criticizes Feijóo's assertion that Spain faces a "crisis migratoria sin precedentes" (migration crisis without precedent), highlighting that this claim ignores countless historical examples of Spaniards emigrating abroad.

  • Quote: “Una de las últimas mentiras de Feijóo es que su amada España está pasando por una crisis migratoria sin precedentes..." (Nieves, 01:19)

• Definition of Migration

  • Concostrina takes time to clearly define terms often confused in public discourse:
    • Migración: Displacement of individuals or groups, generally for economic or social reasons, includes both emigration and immigration.
    • Emigration vs. Immigration: “Los inmigrantes vienen, los emigrantes se van.” (Nieves, 03:59)

2. Major Spanish Migration Precedents

• Mass Spanish Emigration

  • From fleeing to the Americas in the 17th and 18th centuries, to "indianos" in the 19th, to 500,000 fleeing to France after the Spanish Civil War, Spanish migration has deep historical roots.
  • Notably, 8,000 Spaniards went to Hawai’i in 1910, and many Spanish workers migrated to Germany, Australia, Switzerland, and the US.
  • Quote: “Entonces, como ahora, habría inmigración controlada... Pero otra mucha clandestina, muchísima, siempre ha habido.” (Carlos, 11:04)

• Spanish Emigrants During Economic Crisis

  • In 2012, 60,000 Spaniards left, mostly young people seeking work, during the economic crisis under Mariano Rajoy.
    • Quote: “En el año 2012 emigraron, se largaron de España 60.000 españoles, 60.000, sobre todo jóvenes...” (Nieves, 04:52)
  • Satirical take on the then Secretary General Marina del Corral’s claim that it was due to Spaniards' "espíritu aventurero".
    • Quote (paraphrased): “Esta señora debía creer que los sin techo son boy scout intrépidos o algo así.” (Nieves, 05:41)

3. Cultural Reception and Racism Abroad

• Host Societies' Prejudices

  • In the US and Germany, Spanish immigrants were often seen as religious, “too moreno,” or as radical threats.
  • Example from US history: In 1920, US Congress restricted Spanish immigration following racist and anti-anarchist rhetoric.
    • Quote from a US Congressman: “España es un hervidero revuelto de anarquía y el gobierno español está juntando a todos esos anarquistas para arrojárnoslos a Estados Unidos.” (Nieves, 09:01)

• Labor Demand and Exploitation

  • Spanish emigrants were welcomed as long as their labor was needed and became “la peste” once that need faded.
  • In Hawaii, Andalusians were recruited with free passage but faced exploitative conditions, leading many to leave for California.
    • Quote: “Dos de cada tres de aquellos que fueron, dos de cada tres, se tuvieron que largar.” (Nieves, 10:27)

4. Clandestine Migration and Mafias

• Massive Illegal Emigration
  • Between late 1800s and 1930, almost 5 million Spaniards emigrated (half a million Andalusians alone), often helped by traffickers and mafias.
  • Many traveled clandestinely to Germany in the 1960s via Andorra due to harsh government controls.

5. Women’s Migration: The ‘Martas’

• Emigration of Spanish Women
  • The "Plan Marta" involved Spanish women being recruited by the Catholic Church for domestic work in Australia.
    • Quote: “El grupo más numeroso de mujeres inmigrantes en Alemania… era el de las españolas.” (Nieves, 12:19)
  • Franco’s regime disapproved, as it clashed with the ideal of women confined to home roles.

6. Spanish Migration to North Africa

• Unknown Migration to Algeria and Morocco
  • At the start of the 20th century, 160,000 Spaniards lived in Algeria, mainly for labor opportunities. The "matanza de Saida" saw the massacre of 190 Spanish workers, drawing attention to these oft-forgotten communities.
  • Again, much of this migration was clandestine.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Opening Satire and Framing
  “La historia… se escribe capítulo a capítulo y hay episodios o temas que no se ventilan de un plumazo.” (Carlos, 00:41)

• On Feijóo’s Ignorance “Tengo confianza también en que Núñez Feijóo también conozca la diferencia entre los dos términos... que un gallego como él no esté al tanto de los miles y miles y miles de españoles que partieron de puertos de Galicia para ir a robarle el trabajo a los de otros países, pues esto ya grave.” (Nieves, 04:19)

• History Repeats Itself “Toda esta inmigración española fue relativamente, relativamente bien recibida mientras se la necesitaba. Pero luego, en 1920, ahí los españoles pasaron a ser la peste.” (Nieves, 07:36)

• Academic Reflection “No emigra el pobre por serlo, sino el que sabe de un lugar donde sus esfuerzos pueden ser mejor recompensados.” — Francisco Contreras, Centro de Investigación en Migraciones de la Universidad de Huelva (Nieves, 13:48)

Key Timestamps

• [01:19] — Nieves explains political inspiration (Feijóo's statement)
• [03:59] — Clarification of “migra”, emigrante & inmigrante
• [04:52] — Contemporary migration: 60,000 young Spaniards in 2012
• [09:01] — US Congressman’s speech against Spanish immigrants (1920)
• [10:27] — The failed Spanish migration to Hawaii
• [11:14] — Illegal migration from Spain in modern times
• [12:19] — Spanish women migrants (‘martas’) and Franco's objections
• [13:11] — Forgotten Spanish migrants in Algeria and Morocco
• [13:48] — Academic perspective on motivation to migrate

Final Reflections

Nieves closes by highlighting the cyclical, multifaceted nature of migration — and implores listeners not to be swayed by ignorant political sloganeering. Her history lesson demonstrates that migratory “crises” are not new, nor are they one-sided, and that Spain has long participated in global migration flows both as source and destination.

“Hoy sólo pretendía hacer un repaso en un intento de que la gente no se deje engañar con mentiras de algunos políticos que desconocen absolutamente el drama de la inmigración española en otros países, que desconocen su país y hasta el drama de la emigración de su propia tierra gallega.” (Nieves, 13:20)

For listeners: This episode provides a deeply contextualized, sometimes humorous, and always educational look into Spain’s real migration history—particularly useful for countering misinformation and seeing present debates in the light of the past.