Political participation of immigrants in Spain: elections, representation and other spaces

This article reviews the recent developments in the political participation of immigrants in Spain based on the available data. Political participation is defined here in broad terms, including not only conventional political mechanisms such as voting and electoral representation, but also other, less-institutionalised forms, such as engagement in associations and social movements. There are two main objectives: first to offer as complete a picture as possible of the magnitude and channels of immigrant political participation, taking into account the limitations of the data; and second, to highlight what determines such levels of participation, as well as proposing some measures that could help improve both levels of participation and the recognition of it.