16
de Setembre
de
2015 - 12:00
Act.
16
de Setembre
de
2015 - 12:34
The flight is reserved, the bags are packed and the aim is to make a new life in another country. At one time or another, the more than 240,000 Catalans who reside abroad have found themselves in this situation. It is a figure that has increased greatly since the onset of the economic crisis. According to Catalonia's statistics office, the Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya, since 2009, the emigration rate of Catalans has shot up by 68.1%, most of whom have chosen to go somewhere in the European Union or South America.
This decision is usually taken for two reasons: the search for new job opportunities or as a way of improving one's CV with professional experience abroad. Whatever the cause, both require carefully choosing the destination and learning as much as possible about such basic details as the official language, the currency, legal processes, health cover or schooling and the convalidation of qualifications.
This is where the portal MónCat comes in, a key tool that helps emigrants make the right decision. It is a database created two years ago by the Generalitat government with information from more than 25 countries in the five continents, including Catalonia, and which brings together everything you need to know when either beginning the process of emigration of returning home.
Dealing with the needs of the moment
One person who knows a lot about the situation of Catalans abroad is Antoni Montserrat, the political manager of the Directorate of Public Health and Risk Assessment of the European Commission in Luxembourg and one of organisers of the Centre Català in Luxembourg. Between 2009 and 2013, he says that the Catalan expat community received an "astronomical" number of emails with doubts and enquiries about the process of emigrating, something that brought the realisation that the situation was "structural and not conjunctural, and that it would continue to be so for some years."
This mass emigration that Montserrat mentions is the same one that led to the creation of the MónCat project. The information it contains is taken from the websites of each country's public institutions, but with the added value of being gathered together in a Catalan portal and organised by State and theme.
Thus, if one is clear about one's destination, everything to do about documentation or administrative processes can be looked up easily. And if there are doubts about the ideal place for an individual or professional, the advantages of each country can be compared online. What's more, macroeconomic information, such as per capita income, the unemployment rate or GDP, can also be consulted.
"Luxembourg has three official languages: Luxembourgish, French and German. To have qualified work, you have to speak at least the latter two languages, or if possible, English," points out Montserrat, referring to what you need to know before leaving. The list continues with the sectors in which there are most opportunities: "The financial, auditing and banking sectors are, in general, the most important in this country. A lot of health professionals also come, as well as people from other less-qualified areas, with fewer linguistic requirements, such as construction or hostelry, as there is a need for labour."
Daily obstacles
One of the star enquiries about Luxembourg is how the health system works. In Spain, there is universal health coverage that is only found in the United Kingdom and Italy, but not in other countries.
In Luxembourg's case, Montserrat points out that one needs to have health insurance that later returns the money that the citizen has paid for a service in any hospital or clinic. "However, there are some limits to what amounts are returned or not, and one needs time to understand and master it. It is not too serious, but there is a process of adaptation," he warns. According to MónCat, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are countries that also have this system.
Beyond health, the convalidation of qualifications is a constant concern. This can be seen from the accounts of Catalans abroad posted on the website, which also offer advice and recount aspects of everyday life. In short, the portal's aim is to provide the maximum amount of support to emigrants.
A change of trend
Montserrat thinks that 2013/2014 was a turning point: "Migration has not stopped, but it has gone down because emigrating is not cheap. The people who between 2008 and 2012 tried the adventure of emigrating had their own resources or family members that allowed them to risk it. However, now there are not so many people who have these resources," he says.
If we take the example of Luxembourg, the Catalans there mostly arrive with a signed contract or at least a job interview. And it is worth pointing out that they begin their journey knowing "where the opportunities are and which sectors have the most opportunities." "This is an attractive country because it needs workers, it has the highest GDP and income per capita in Europe and only Denmark has higher salaries. However, you have to be very clear on what each qualified job requires," he insists.
And will they return? "I came with a month-long contract and I've now spent almost 30 years abroad," says Montserrat, "and this situation is quite common, because out of everyone who leaves home thinking it is only provisional, most end up staying. In the end, it all depends on the economic situation in the country of origin and in the host country." In the cases of returning emigrants, knowing what has changed in Catalonia and where to go about the paperwork is fundamental. MónCat also helps returnees with a section that has everything one needs to know so that Catalans abroad know what is going on in health, education, banking or administrative processes, the same concerns of those who decide to emigrate in the first place.
This decision is usually taken for two reasons: the search for new job opportunities or as a way of improving one's CV with professional experience abroad. Whatever the cause, both require carefully choosing the destination and learning as much as possible about such basic details as the official language, the currency, legal processes, health cover or schooling and the convalidation of qualifications.
This is where the portal MónCat comes in, a key tool that helps emigrants make the right decision. It is a database created two years ago by the Generalitat government with information from more than 25 countries in the five continents, including Catalonia, and which brings together everything you need to know when either beginning the process of emigration of returning home.
Dealing with the needs of the moment
One person who knows a lot about the situation of Catalans abroad is Antoni Montserrat, the political manager of the Directorate of Public Health and Risk Assessment of the European Commission in Luxembourg and one of organisers of the Centre Català in Luxembourg. Between 2009 and 2013, he says that the Catalan expat community received an "astronomical" number of emails with doubts and enquiries about the process of emigrating, something that brought the realisation that the situation was "structural and not conjunctural, and that it would continue to be so for some years."
This mass emigration that Montserrat mentions is the same one that led to the creation of the MónCat project. The information it contains is taken from the websites of each country's public institutions, but with the added value of being gathered together in a Catalan portal and organised by State and theme.
Thus, if one is clear about one's destination, everything to do about documentation or administrative processes can be looked up easily. And if there are doubts about the ideal place for an individual or professional, the advantages of each country can be compared online. What's more, macroeconomic information, such as per capita income, the unemployment rate or GDP, can also be consulted.
"Luxembourg has three official languages: Luxembourgish, French and German. To have qualified work, you have to speak at least the latter two languages, or if possible, English," points out Montserrat, referring to what you need to know before leaving. The list continues with the sectors in which there are most opportunities: "The financial, auditing and banking sectors are, in general, the most important in this country. A lot of health professionals also come, as well as people from other less-qualified areas, with fewer linguistic requirements, such as construction or hostelry, as there is a need for labour."
Daily obstacles
One of the star enquiries about Luxembourg is how the health system works. In Spain, there is universal health coverage that is only found in the United Kingdom and Italy, but not in other countries.
In Luxembourg's case, Montserrat points out that one needs to have health insurance that later returns the money that the citizen has paid for a service in any hospital or clinic. "However, there are some limits to what amounts are returned or not, and one needs time to understand and master it. It is not too serious, but there is a process of adaptation," he warns. According to MónCat, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are countries that also have this system.
Beyond health, the convalidation of qualifications is a constant concern. This can be seen from the accounts of Catalans abroad posted on the website, which also offer advice and recount aspects of everyday life. In short, the portal's aim is to provide the maximum amount of support to emigrants.
A change of trend
Montserrat thinks that 2013/2014 was a turning point: "Migration has not stopped, but it has gone down because emigrating is not cheap. The people who between 2008 and 2012 tried the adventure of emigrating had their own resources or family members that allowed them to risk it. However, now there are not so many people who have these resources," he says.
If we take the example of Luxembourg, the Catalans there mostly arrive with a signed contract or at least a job interview. And it is worth pointing out that they begin their journey knowing "where the opportunities are and which sectors have the most opportunities." "This is an attractive country because it needs workers, it has the highest GDP and income per capita in Europe and only Denmark has higher salaries. However, you have to be very clear on what each qualified job requires," he insists.
And will they return? "I came with a month-long contract and I've now spent almost 30 years abroad," says Montserrat, "and this situation is quite common, because out of everyone who leaves home thinking it is only provisional, most end up staying. In the end, it all depends on the economic situation in the country of origin and in the host country." In the cases of returning emigrants, knowing what has changed in Catalonia and where to go about the paperwork is fundamental. MónCat also helps returnees with a section that has everything one needs to know so that Catalans abroad know what is going on in health, education, banking or administrative processes, the same concerns of those who decide to emigrate in the first place.