Parties’ Positions on Emigration and the Political Representation of Citizens Abroad: An In-Depth Analysis of the Spanish Case

Extra-territorial enfranchisement policies stimulated homeland parties to become attentive to overseas voters. Yet, there is mixed evidence on how parties represent emigrants’ interests in domestic policymaking: while some pro-actively support legislation to extend emigrants’ rights, others only marginally engage with diasporic communities. We contribute to this literature with new evidence from Spain. So far, little is known about Spanish parties’ positions on emigration or their strategies to connect with the sizeable group of voters abroad. To fill this gap, we use interviews with party leaders and an analysis of emigration salience in the electoral manifestos of all mainstream parties since late 1980s. We show that most parties have significantly shifted their emigration position over time, by becoming more attentive to overseas Spaniards and their rights. However, inter-party variations in diaspora representation still exist, mainly due to ideological positions, increased party competition and processes of emulation of diaspora representation strategies.