Between Development and Control: State Sponsored Emigration under Francoist Rule

Abstract

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Abstract This paper examines assisted emigration policies under Francoist rule (1939–1975) and assesses the extent to which emigration served regime survival. Using provincial-level data between 1964 and 1976, we investigate whether the Spanish Emigration Institute (IEE), created in 1956, employed emigration as a safety valve for unemployment and political dissent. Our findings suggest that, contrary to expectations, assisted emigration was not systematically directed towards provinces with higher unemployment or lower educational attainment. Instead, population density emerges as the main predictor of assisted outflows, while politically contentious provinces experienced lower rates of state-sponsored emigration. This pattern reflects the regime’s efforts to prevent “ideological contamination” abroad. Our analysis underscores the regime’s dual dilemmas: while aiming to export surplus labour and secure foreign exchange through remittances, Francoist authorities simultaneously sought to limit the spread of oppositional ideas among workers in European destinations. The existence of multiple tolerated exit routes, combined with strong demand from receiving countries, undermined the regime’s ability to monopolise all emigrant flows. As a result, the political safety valve, while operative at origin, shifted to destination countries, where the regime relied on surveillance and propaganda to control assisted emigrants. By highlighting these dynamics, the paper contributes to the literature on migration under authoritarianism, showing how limited administrative capacity and international constraints shaped emigration policy in Francoist Spain.