A study published in Spain finds a majority of young Spaniards perceive mass migration as a “real threat” and associate it with rising crime, while agreeing that there are “too many migrants” in their country.
The study, titled, Jovenes Españoles 2026 (“Spanish Youth 2026”) was published by the Spanish non-profit organization Fundacion SM, and it contains an exhaustive analysis of the current reality of Spaniards aged between 15-24 during 2025 across a wide range of subjects, comparing the findings with those from 2020 and 2005.
Health, family, earning money, and free time and leisure were found to be the top most important aspects for the young people who participated in the study. Over a third at 38.4 per cent said they consider religion to be “quite or very important” on their lives, with 45 per cent identifying as Catholic, up from 31.6 per cent in 2020.
When it comes to migration, the study found notable changes in the perception that Spanish youth have towards migrants, with a significant rise in support of the concept that migrants should assimilate to Spanish customs and norms, and a documented drop in support for cultural diversity and the respect for migrants’ non-Spanish customs among respondents. The study also documented a resurgence of support in the perception of what it described as “real threats” when it comes to migration — the amount of migrants, and a growth in crime associated to mass migration.
As many as 61.7 per cent expressed that they find that the presence of migrants has led to a growth in delinquency in Spain — over twice as many as the 27.6 per cent who expressed the same sentiment in the 2020 survey.
Similarly, 65.6 per cent of respondents stated that they perceive that “there are starting to be too many migrants in Spain.” In contrast, only 34.2 per cent had said so in 2020.
When asked for their opinion on the statement, “We make things too easy for migrants,” 58.9 per cent of the young respondents expressed to be in agreement with the sentiment during 2025, up from the 30.4 per cent before.
Now, nearly three-quarters at 72 per cent of respondents said that migrants must adapt to Spanish customs and cultures, up from 47 percent in 2020. When asked for their opinion on the statement, “We must respect all migrants’ customs, unless they violate the Constitution,” 64.7 percent expressed to be in agreement.
“This trend suggests a resurgence of the perception of immigration as a massive and potentially destabilizing phenomenon,” the study stated.
The study, however, also found a drop in support of the statement that migrants “take away” Spanish jobs among the nation’s youth, going from 78 percent in 2005 to 43 per cent in 2025. The perception that migration is “economically necessary,” the study said, remains “stable,” with 51 per cent of respondents expressing their agreement with the assertion in 2025. The study affirmed that, “these figures reflect a normalization of the migrant population’s presence in the workforce.”
Political ideology was unsurprisingly described by the study as the most decisive factor in terms of migration followed by educational level and social class, with higher support for inclusive views and integration found among women, youth people with higher levels of education, and whose who identified themselves as left-wing.
The study found a notable 12 percent reduction among young people aged 15-24 who identify as leftist or centre-leftists against a 14 per cent growth on those who identify with centre-right or right-wing, majorly among young male Catholic Spaniards.
At the same time, the findings revealed an erosion in the trust towards democracy and politics among the youth, with 68 per cent of respondents expressing that they hold “little to no” satisfaction with how democracy functions — with “nearly half” expressing that they believe that a “tougher approach is sometimes necessary and that an authoritarian regime is better able to maintain social peace.”
“This change does not appear to be a one-off occurrence, but rather part of a broader trend that has been gradually taking hold over time,” the study pointed out.
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