Norwegians in Spain: A society in limbo

Abstract

Since the 1950’s Spain has been an attractive country for vacationers, meanwhile, a part of tourism evolved and since the 1980’s Norwegians and other North Europeans have migrated to the coasts of Spain. The comfortable, healthy climate and the relaxed way of life have attracted thousands of Europeans in the last decades. The rapid growth caused Spain to build urbanizaciones, which developed into ghetto-like communities that were designated solely for foreign tourists and migrants. To this day, Norwegians have created their own communities with their own Norwegian goods and services in Spain. This thesis will focus on Norwegians that have migrated to Costa Blanca, with special emphasis on Torrevieja and L’Albir. The Norwegians were interviewed in relation to how they perceived their anti-tourist attitudes, social differentiation, authenticity and conflicts and relationships with other groups in Spain. The research showed that less experienced migrants generally have both inward and outward directed anti-tourist attitudes while experienced migrants have directed their anti-tourist attitudes inward. Mainly experienced migrants perceive social differentiation from tourists, while the research also indicated social stratification among migrants in the community. The majority of the Norwegian migrants did not have an authentic ‘Spanish’ life in Spain, as only a few very experienced migrants were heavily integrated and spoke fluent Spanish. The majority of migrants also perceived to have a good relationship with the resident Spaniards and the Norwegian tourists. They however perceived the Spanish to be severely lacking English capabilities and the tourists to be drinking too much alcohol and have outrageous behavior. The study indicates that experience and the capability of speaking Spanish are the most important aspects in influencing the attitudes and behavior shown by the migrant Norwegians on Costa Blanca.