Entrepreneurship Among Pakistanis in Barcelona: Unravelling Strategies in the Context of Crisis

The emergence of ethnic economies owned by migrant communities is changing the urban landscape of many cities around the world. In Barcelona, the Pakistani community has developed an ethnic economy based on small businesses in different trade sectors which are spreading all over the city taking advantage of vacancies and exploring new markets. This article contributes to know the scope and internal functioning of businesses from Pakistani immigrants taking three different neighbourhoods in Barcelona as a case study. The research concludes that the great concentration and development of Pakistani enterprises in this city is explained by the interplay of contextual and ethnic strategies which have to do with a favourable structure of opportunities in the current context of crisis and the sharing of ethnic resources through the networks of the community. Thanks to a mixed methods design, complementarity between quantitative and qualitative data has been ensured through the elaboration of a survey of more than 150 Pakistani establishments and in-depth interviews with key informants and entrepreneurs.