Understanding patterns of internal migration during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
González-Leonardo, Miguel (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Àustria). Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital)
López Gay, Antonio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geografia)
Newsham, Niall (University of Liverpool. Department of Geography and Planning)
Recaño Valverde, Joaquín (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Geografia)
Rowe, Francisco (University of Liverpool)
Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics

Date:	2022
Abstract:	Existing empirical work has analysed the impacts of COVID-19 on mortality, fertility and international migration. Less is known about the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the patterns of internal migration. Anecdotal reports of mass migration from large cities to less populated areas have emerged, but lack of data has prevented empirically assessing this hypothesis. Drawing on geographically granular administrative population register data, we aim to analyse the extent of change in the patterns of internal migration across the urban hierarchy in Spain during 2020. Our results show a decline of 2. 5% in the number of internal migration moves, particularly during the early stages of the pandemic, returning to pre-pandemic levels in late 2020. Results also reveal unusually large net migration losses in core cities and net migration gains in rural areas. Net migration losses in cities and gains in rural areas particularly accumulated following the elimination of the strict lockdown measures in June. Yet, these net losses and gains trended to pre-pandemic levels in late 2020, and movements between cities, and between cities and suburbs, continued to dominate the internal migration system. Thus, while the COVID-19 pandemic exerted notable changes in the geographic balance of internal migration flows, these changes appear to have been temporary and did not significantly alter the existing structures of the national migration system.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-113665RB-I00 "la Caixa" Foundation LCF/PR/SR21/52560007
Note:	Altres ajuts: Alan Turing Institute in the United Kingdom (1162533)
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	COVID-19 ; Internal migration ; Rural areas ; Spain ; Urban exodus ; Urban hierarchy
Published in:	Population, space and place, Vol. 28 Núm. 6 (june 2022, e2578, ISSN 1544-8452

DOI: 10.1002/psp.2578
PMID: 35942493

13 p, 1.6 MB

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