Many Latin Americans came to Spain during the country's economic boom in the late 1990s and beginning of the new millennium. The financial crisis that began in 2007 resulted in many leaving: some used acquired Spanish passports to work in northern Europe, while others moved to the United States. Trigger events that served as a push factor from Latin America included the 1998–1999 Ecuador economic crisis and the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression, while Venezuelans are as of 2021 the nationality applying most for asylum in Spain, due to the country's crisis. Migration fell again in 2020 due to a lack of long-distance flights because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
