ABSTRACT
The serious economic crisis that over a decade ago began to affect southern European countries, including Spain, and the resulting high unemployment rates, especially among the younger generation in the country, led to a wave of mass emigration of labor from Spain to Germany. This movement has been reinforced by the fact that Germany suffers from a lack of labor—especially skilled labor, mostly in the fields of engineering and healthcare. As a result, both German companies and the German government have pursued efforts to recruit highly skilled Spanish staff. One of the German federal states with the greatest demand for labor is North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state in Germany and one of the most industrial regions in Europe. Due to its economic strength and particular lifestyle, Cologne, the largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia has attracted many of the recent Spanish migrants. This migration within the context of Cologne as a global city constitutes the focus of this chapter.
