ABSTRACT
The Spanish Constitution of 1978 contains only one precept on migration movements concerning Spanish emigrants. 1 That is, Article 13, which specifies the basic constitutional regulation on aliens. The precept formulates a principle of restricted equivalence between nationals and aliens vis-à-vis the entitlement to, and exercise of, fundamental rights and public liberties. 2 The article also constitutes the basis for Spanish legislation on aliens and immigration. The Spanish Constitution does not, however, take immigration into account. At the time of its creation, immigration was veritably non-existent, and Spain had traditionally been a country of emigrants. As the data in Tables 1 through 4 show, there has been substantial change in Spain’s migratory flows during the last 30 years.
