My 9-day vacation in Uruguay: Intrepid reader writes
Beaches, classic car races and a bargain therapy session. We were delighted to get this email from one reader after his vacations in Uruguay.
Uruguay considers itself a nation of immigrants. However, the country that I moved to in 2000 hadn’t seen significant inbound immigration since the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Uruguay experienced a significant influx of European immigrants, mainly from Spain, Italy and Germany.
So in 2000, Uruguay felt pretty homogenous. And certainly as a foreigner, especially an English speaking one, I was asked constantly what I was doing in Uruguay “when we all want to go where you come from”.
However, in the last five or so years Uruguay has started to receive what I term a third wave of immigration, coming primarily from our neighbours—Argentina and Brazil—but also from Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
It’s now easy to find tropical fruits in a grocery store, thanks to these immigrants and in the capital you’ll often hear Caribbean accents, especially when walking in the old city where I live.
As I mentioned in my article about my frustrations with Uruguay, well-turned-out friendly Venezuelans in particular have found roles front-of-desk in hospitality and service industries.
So what do you Uruguayans think about this? I was excited to see a survey out last month which asked Uruguayans about their attitudes regarding immigrants.
The survey was carried out with 400 adults selected on the basis of gender, age, geography and political preference.
73% said that they did and just 13% that they did not trust foreigners (14% didn’t answer or didn’t know).
Socio-economic levels had more of an impact than age. People who are well-off are highly receptive to foreigners: 87% trust foreigners and just 5% do not trust them. Whereas 62% of working-class people trust foreigners while 20% who do not trust them.
Location also had an impact. Half of all Uruguayans live in the capital, Montevideo. 79% of Montevideans surveyed said they trusted foreigners with just 7% distrusting foreigners. Whereas in the interior, 65% distrusted trusted foreigners versus 21% who did not.
Interestingly, the youngest people surveyed (ages 18 to 29) together with the oldest (over 60) were most likely to trust foreigners—79% and 78% respectively.
The other difference was regarding political affiliations. 83% of people who voted for the centre-left Frente Amplio in the last elections (2019) trusted foreigners and just 3% did not trust foreigners. Of those who voted for the current government, a centre-right coalition, 70% trust foreigners and 19% do not.
65% agreed with the statement and 19% disagreed.
A staggering 83% are in agreement with only 12% in disagreement.
[This is especially impressive when you note that foreigners have the same access to health, education and housing as citizens. Learn more]
60% were in agreement with the statement whilst 23% were in disagreement.
42% were in agreement, 29% did not feel strongly either way and 26% believed that locals should not be prioritised over immigrants in that case.
The youngest people surveyed were significantly more in favour of a level playing field in the workplace. 39% felt that there should be no discrimination in favour of locals and 30% had no strong opinion. 31% felt that locals should be prioritised. In comparison, all other age brackets (people over 30) were more likely to feel the locals should be given priority (45 to 47%, depending on age group).
72% agree with the statement with 14% disagreeing.
Data from the National Institute of Statistics of Uruguay shows that in 2020, the top five countries of origin were:
It’s worth noting that these figures refer to people who have obtained Uruguayan residency, and not all immigrants may have done so. For instance, Argentines and Brazilians have the right to live in Uruguay as members of Mercosur (the Southern Cone’s equivalent of the EU).
My 9-day vacation in Uruguay: Intrepid reader writes
Beaches, classic car races and a bargain therapy session. We were delighted to get this email from one reader after his vacations in Uruguay.
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The 1917 Constitution granted women the right to vote. Another Uruguay first. Though the story is of course more complicated.
Montevideo is often overshadowed by Buenos Aires. Three well-travelled bloggers tell what made them fall in love with South America’s off-the-radar capital.
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…and 5th friendliest in the world, says the Spartacus International Gay Guide. Yep, homosexuality has been legal here for EIGHTY years.
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10 Responses
This is great news to find! We are looking to leave the US and it seems that in many countries digital nomads or “expats” are increasingly criticized or not welcomed because they are harming local economies. We want to immigrate somewhere and fully integrate there, and Uruguay is looking better and better the more I read about it!
Delighted to have you as a new reader, Cassie! We’ll be publishing some very interesting news about digital nomads in the next few weeks. Maybe sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss it? Cheers, Karen
It’s interesting that the average Uruguayan appears, based on this survey, to be open to immigrants being full participating members of society, yet the distinction between ‘ciudadano natural’ and ‘ciudadano legal’ as defined by Uruguayan law implies a foreigner can never truly become as Uruguayan as one born here or to Uruguayan parents. . That such a person will never be an ‘oriental.’ Do you have any thoughts about this? Perhaps the government should consider revising this strange law?
Hi Becca, yes, it is strange. My understanding is that a law is being considered around this subject, but I’m not really up on it. Thanks for sharing, Karen
Nice article Karen! but I think there is a typo. It reads “Whereas in the interior, 65% distrusted trusted foreigners versus 21% who did not.”
Ooops, thanks, Scott! Fixed! — Karen
As a Uruguayan I am very happy that we had this third wave of immigration. Immigrants have brought their views, food, music and are very friendly and trying to make a honest living here. Many of them are working as drivers or sellers but they over qualify since they are very well educated people.
A funny note is that the community from Venezuela has coined the term Veneguayos for themselves :D.
During the seventies and after many of us had to emigrate for various reasons and I find fair that we are open to immigrants now.
Hi David, me too! Veneguayos is such a great term 🙂 — thanks for taking the time to comment — Karen
I’m going to be brutally honest. I absolutely detest the term “expat”. My great grandparents arrived in Uruguay in the late 1800’s. They were IMMIGRANTS. If you choose to come and live here, you are an immigrant. Such a presumptuous term: ‘expat’. Almost as if there was something superior about it.
Totally in agreement with you, Patricia! And you’ll notice that I did not use the word once in this article. Unfortunately as someone who runs a website we do need to use the term ‘expat’ at times because that is what many English-speaking potential immigrants (ha!) search on, and we want them to find our content. To me ‘expat’ implies that you are moving temporarily and plan to return to your mother-country. Thanks for sharing your rant! — Karen