How your origin changes how you are treated in Spain

Key rules

• Appearance: Perceived appearance, religion and ethnic origin often matter more than your nationality.
• Least friction: Northern Europeans and many Latin Americans report the least discrimination.
• Most discrimination: North African, Black and Roma people report the most, including those born in Spain.
• Nationality route: Latin Americans can apply for nationality after two years of residence instead of ten.

This is a general pattern from surveys up to about 2024, so individual experience varies by town and circumstances.

The short version

How you are treated depends heavily on perceived origin, appearance, religion and class. Northern Europeans and many Latin Americans face less friction than North African, Black and Roma people. Appearance often counts for more than the nationality on your passport. Spanish nationals of minority background report the same problems.

What follows is a general pattern. Individual experience varies with your town, your job, your income and your language.

Northern Europeans and other wealthy-country residents

You are generally treated positively. People from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the US are often seen as tourists, retirees or "expats" rather than immigrants. That label reflects a link between appearance and wealth.

Friction exists, but it is mostly about rising housing prices, tourism pressure and language. It rarely amounts to discrimination. Your main problems are likely to be paperwork, such as residency formalities and, for British nationals, post-Brexit status.

Latin Americans

Shared language and culture make daily life easier, and Latin Americans are viewed more favourably than North Africans. The route to Spanish nationality is also faster: two years of residence instead of ten.

Discrimination still happens, at a moderate level and lower than for Moroccans or Black Africans. It shows up in:

• renting a home
• the job market, where work is concentrated in domestic work, care and hospitality, often on irregular terms
• stereotyping, especially of women and of people who look Afro-descendant or Indigenous

Asian residents

Experiences differ between groups. The large Chinese community is generally seen as hard-working and runs many small businesses. Reported discrimination is lower than for North Africans or Black people.

In 2020, during COVID-19, there was a rise in verbal abuse, online hate and avoidance of people of East Asian appearance, with some physical incidents. These eased after the first months of the pandemic. Pakistani and Bangladeshi residents face more religious and ethnic prejudice than East Asians.

North Africans

Moroccans and other North Africans are among the most discriminated-against groups in Spain. Public attitudes are the most negative towards Moroccans and Muslims. Discrimination is reported in housing, jobs and policing, along with Islamophobic hate speech online. Opposition to new mosques is a common flashpoint.

Many North Africans have long residence and family roots, so integration is strong in practice. Reported discrimination is higher than for Latin Americans and similar to that of Black Africans.

Black and sub-Saharan African residents

Black residents report some of the highest levels of racial discrimination in Spain. This includes racist harassment, discrimination in housing and work, and police identity checks based on appearance. Black Spaniards also report being treated as foreigners. Street vendors and recent arrivals in the Canary Islands and the Spanish enclaves in North Africa face particular hardship. Racist abuse in football has been widely reported.

Roma people

Roma people, along with Moroccans, receive the most negative scores from the general public and report among the highest levels of discrimination.

What this means for you

• Surveys consistently find that skin colour, ethnic origin and religion are the leading grounds of discrimination. The size of the gap varies from survey to survey, but the order of groups stays the same.
• If you are likely to face more friction, choose your town with care. The checklist below shows how to judge how welcoming a place is.
• Expect more difficulty renting a home if you look visibly foreign. Allow extra time for your search.

Checklist for judging how welcoming a Spanish town is to your background

Signals that a town is welcoming

• Look up the share of foreign-born residents in the town on the INE website (Spain's national statistics office), using the municipal tables by nationality and country of birth.

• Check whether the city council publishes its own padrón (town population register) figures and compare them with the INE tables.

• Search local news for recent anti-migrant incidents in the town, such as protests against reception centres, attacks on mosques or disturbances, and note how the council responded.

• Look for active migrant and neighbourhood associations in the town.

• Find out whether the council has an integration or immigration service and whether it offers language classes.

• Check for multilingual signs and services, and for a council that publicly welcomes newcomers.

• Ask the local schools whether pupils come from a mix of nationalities.

• Walk around the town and note diverse shops and places of worship.

• Visit in person and talk to locals and to people from your background who already live there about how they are treated.

Frequently asked questions

Does appearance matter more than nationality in how you are treated in Spain?

Yes, perceived appearance and ethnic origin usually matter more than the nationality on your documents. Surveys list skin colour, ethnic origin and religion as the main grounds of discrimination. Black, Arab, Muslim and Roma people report the most, including those born in Spain or with Spanish nationality.

Will getting Spanish nationality stop you being treated as a foreigner?

No, Spanish nationality does not fully stop it if you look visibly different.

What problems do Latin Americans still report in Spain?

Latin Americans report less discrimination than North or Black Africans, but problems exist in housing rental and at work. Work is often concentrated in domestic work, care and hospitality, sometimes with irregular conditions.

Are all Asian residents treated the same way in Spain?

No, Asian residents report different experiences depending on their group. East Asians, including the large Chinese community, report lower discrimination, though verbal abuse and online hate rose in 2020 during COVID-19.

What problems do Northern Europeans usually face in Spain?

Northern Europeans mostly face paperwork problems rather than hostility. Residency procedures are the usual difficulty, and British nationals have the added issue of their post-Brexit status. Local friction is mainly about housing prices, tourism pressure and language.