‘With a birth rate estimated at 1.28 per woman – far below the replacement rate of 2.1 and one of the lowest in Europe – Spain’s population will fall (and age) dramatically over the coming years. According to Expatica: “By 2050, Spain will have only 30 million people – three quarters of its current population – as well as one of the oldest population profiles in the world”.
No matter how the current crisis around Ceuta and Melilla turns out, a people like the Spaniards, with so little commitment to their own future, will never have the strength to resist being overwhelmed by the burgeoning and desperate masses of the third world at their doorstep.’
Interesting facts in the first paragraph, but is this really about Spaniards having no commitment to their own future? I would say that it has more to do with new professional opportunities for women that disappear as soon as they try to integrate a large family into their working lives, and the fact that rising prices and mortgages make it very difficult to be able to afford to have more than one child these days. I’ll have to find out what the Spanish think about this…
Notes from Spain by Ben Curtis 