The spoils of Laurentiu Barldamu's two years in Spain are modest: €1,500 ($2,000, £1,000) in savings and a 10-year-old Ford Escort with dented doors. But the 24-year-old Romanian, who earns €800 a month delivering fish, is optimistic that one day he will upgrade his vehicle and buy a house back home.
For many of the 4m immigrants who have flooded into Spain in the past five years, the country holds the promise of a living that would take months or years to earn in their country of origin.
"I like it here," Mr Barldamu says. "It is a very free society. And I earn a lot more."
Spain's ability to absorb Europe's fastest-rising immigrant population without falling prey to the social tensions that have plagued France's poor suburbs or Britain's inner cities comes down to a combination of economics, demographics and national temperament, say immigration experts.
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