ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationship between language and social mobility in the Latin American communities of London and Madrid. It examines the linguistic resources seen by the participants as capital and as legitimate resources in given social fields. The chapter offers an overview of citizenship policies, language valence, and mobility in London and Madrid. It analyzes how the interviewees in their interactions with the interviewers represent the role of language in societal integration and mobility in the Latin American communities in both cities. The chapter draws on concepts from sociolinguistics and analytic tools from general discourse analysis. The Latin American flows have evolved at the same time as legislative changes in relation to regularization and citizenship in Spain. Latin American migrants in London and Madrid are able to navigate the linguistic markets of the various social fields in accordance with their own social position and the economic and symbolic capitals at their disposal or within their reach.
