Immigrants in Spain squeezed as boom turns to bust

Lured by the promise of wealth in a booming economy, immigrants from North Africa, Latin America and other regions flocked to Spain in the last decade, quickly becoming Exhibit A in the Mediterranean nation's remarkable success story.

But the surging economy -- which relied, to its eventual peril, largely on construction, tourism and service industries -- has crashed, reports Tracy Wilkinson.

In a real estate-fueled boom-and-bust cycle that mirrors remarkably the one in the U.S., Spain today is in the throes of a dramatic downturn. Many of the first to lose their jobs and default on loans are those same immigrants, many of whom eschewed a move to the United States to try their luck in Spain.

"Those with mortgages are the ones who are really hurting," said German Cubas, a Peruvian dentist now working as a waiter in Madrid at the Inti de Oro Peruvian restaurant.

Read more about the problems for Latin American immigrants in Spain here.

For more on immigration, click here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Photo: Fliers advertising property for sale plaster the window of a real estate office in Madrid. Some analysts predict Spain will enter its first recession in 15 years by 2009. Credit: Santi Burgos / Bloomberg News

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