Spain and the United States - Real Instituto Elcano

CHAPTER 5
THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY
Hispanic power is on the rise in the United States, and the consequences of it
could be beneficial for Spain.
The number of Hispanics – more than 41 million at the last official
count – surpasses the total population of Spain. 1 The Hispanic community is
growing more than three times faster than the US population as a whole; in
2003 Hispanics surpassed African Americans as the United States’ largest
minority group.
This community is demographically, politically and economically an
increasingly important force; however, despite Spain’s historic links with the
United States and a long presence in the country (1513-1822, see Chapter 1),
Madrid and Spanish society in general only recently began to take notice of it.
Demographically, Hispanics account for more than 14% of the total US
population. Between July 1, 2003 and July 1, 2004 they were responsible for
about one-half of the national population growth of 2.9 million. Of the 17%
rise in the Hispanic population between 2000 and 2004, 55% was due to births
in the United States and 45% to immigration (see Exhibit 5.1). Economically,
Hispanics’ purchasing power is more than $700 billion, and by 2010 it will
probably reach a trillion dollars (Spain’s GDP reached that figure in 2005).
Politically, Hispanics are gaining ground: the Senate, for the first time, has two
Hispanic senators, Mel Martinez (Republican) and Ken Salazar (Democrat);
there are 25 Hispanics in the House of Representatives (out of a total of 435
and compared with 21 in the first administration of George W Bush); Bush’s
Attorney General and Commerce Secretary are both Hispanics; Bill
Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, is partly Mexican; Los Angeles, the
1. Spain’s population was more than 44 million in 2005. The last (July 1, 2004) official figure for
Hispanics in the United States of 41.3 million excludes the nearly 4 million inhabitants of the Free Associated
State of Puerto Rico, where both Spanish and English are the official languages, and undocumented workers
(more than 8 million are from Latin American countries according to the Pew Hispanic Centre).