Residential mobility trends in a time of crisis. Alicante 2013

Residential mobility trends in a
time of crisis
Dr. Raquel Huete
Department of Sociology I

Alicante, November 2013
http://personal.ua.es/en/r-huete/

Summary
• About lifestyle migration
• The case of Alicante
• What is happening?
• The future


Lifestyle migration: about the concept

North Europeans moving to the South; French
buying second homes in Morocco, US citizens
retiring to Mexico, or even students going on a
gap year…
Affluent migrants migrate, oscillate, circulate or
tour between their home and host countries in
search of something encapsulated in the notion
of the rural idyll or signified in the distinction
between tourism and travel.



Some retain a home in
more than one place,
some work in one place
and live in another;
others simply move,
while others still simply
visit.


LM is a conceptual framework
with which to explain the new
migration forms, which have more
to do with self-realisation projects,
and the search for an intangible
‘good life’ than with strictly
productive activities.


Further reading

Permanent
residents

Migration

Temporary
residents

foreign citizens
who own a home,
and are registered.

foreign citizens who
live in a home that
they do not own (it is
rented, a timeshare,
or owned by relatives
or friends), and are
registered.

Second home
owners

Tourism

Tourists

foreign citizens
who own a
home, but are not
registered.

foreign citizens
who do not own a
home, nor are
registered,

The case of Alicante

Tourism and migration in Alicante
According to official data:
Tourism data

95,000 beds in tourist apartments
71,000 beds in hotels
27,000 beds in campsites

Housing data:
1,3M houses
527,000 registered as wide or second homes

Main countries
70% actual population is
registered
according
to
different surveys.

UK
130,286
Germany 36,531
Romania 32,683
Netherlands 16,499
Bulgaria
12,687
France
11,258
Belgium
10,655
Italy
10,687
Sweden
6,200
Ireland
4,469


In 21
municipalities,
foreigners from
EU outnumber
Spanish people
(2013 INE).
In 4 towns,
foreigners
account for 70%
of the
population.

Total population
EU population

© ASTI, 2010


Employment had grown between 1995 and
2007 at an average annual rate of 4.1%.
The unemployment rate went from 8.5% in the
first quarter of 2007 to 27.2% in the first
quarter of 2013,
2.5 million jobs were destroyed during that
period. Almost half of them were jobs in the
construction sector and the real estate market


The analysis of residential variations by
nationalities between 2005 and 2010
shows that, when faced with the economic
crisis, the so-called lifestyle migrants are
changing their mobility patterns in a way
similar to the rest of migrants.


Huete, R.; Mantecón, A. & Estévez, J. (2013) “Challenges in lifestyle migration research: reflections and findings about the Spanish crisis”, en Mobilities, vol. 8, nº 3.


What is happening?

The crisis has not only led to an
exodus of citizens with less
economic resources, it has also
caused the mass departure of
those other immigrants whose
presence in Spain is associated
with consumption.

Theoretical implications
There are separate socio-economic profiles within each
nationality, so the label ‘lifestyle migrant’ cannot be
associated with a particular national origin. It would be
more convenient to approach the residential behaviour of
each group as part of the same continuum of mobility
types. When the category lifestyle migration includes
individuals linked to the formal or informal economy,
regardless of their being employed on a part-time or fulltime basis, or the meaning they attach to their job, the
differences in regard to other types of migration disappear.


The future
New “markets”?
Chinese and Russian
http://www.diarioinformacion.com/vega-baja/2013/11/26/daya-viejaautoriza-urbanizacion-600/1441996.html

Daya Vieja, Alicante. INE

Total dwellings

1,274,096

Main dwellings

738,367

Secondary dwellings

326,705

Empty dwellings

209,024
Alicante province, INE 2011 Census


Daya Vieja, Alicante. INE

References
Huete, R.; Mantecón, A. & Estévez, J. (2013) “Challenges in lifestyle
migration research: reflections and findings about the Spanish crisis”, en
Mobilities, vol. 8, nº 3.
Huete, R. & Mantecón, A. 2012. Residential tourism or lifestyle migration.
Social problems linked to the non-definition of the situation. In O.
Moufakkir and P. Burns (eds.) Controversies in Tourism. Wallingford: CABI,
pp. 160-173
Mantecón, A. & Huete, R. 2011. Sociological insights on residential tourism:
host society attitudes in a mature destination. European Journal of Tourism
Research, 4 (2):109-122
Mantecón, A. & Huete, R. 2008. The value of authenticity in residential
tourism. The decision-maker's point of view. Tourist Studies, 8 (3): 359-376.
Mazón, T., Huete, R. & Mantecón, A. (eds.) 2011. Construir una nueva vida.
Los espacios del turismo and la migración residencial. Santander:
Milrazones.
Mazón, T., Huete, R. & Mantecón, A. (eds.) 2009.Turismo, urbanización y
estilos de vida. Las nuevas formas de la movilidad residencial. Barcelona:
Icaria.

Residential mobility trends in a time of crisis. Alicante 2013

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