Between Cross-Border Friction and Opportunity: Moldovan Immigrants in Spain

This chapter highlights the migration process of Moldovans in Spain as a result of the collapse of the USSR and which led to the country’s independence. Drawing on 30 in-depth interviews with Moldovans who migrated to Spain from the late 1990s to the present, the chapter examines how the political processes that occurred in Moldova, which are reflected in the gradual opening up of the Schengen border, produce friction and uncertainty, influencing the experiences of Moldovans and having repercussions in their subsequent lives and work trajectories in Spain. First, the chapter aims to introduce the concept of “friction” to examine how the reinforcement of the State border as a (re)bordering process contributed to the development of uncertainty as a subjective experience of immigrants who contend with frustrations in the Spanish labor market. Second, I raise the term of “opportunity” as a consequence of fluidity marked by opening up of borders that favor the free movement of citizens. Opportunity as a concept aims to show how the new scenarios created by greater EU integration help Moldovan immigrants achieve better integration in Spain.