| Description |
Indian migrants have become one of the leading groups of retail entrepreneurs in Spain in payment services. We have found that 310 Indian entrepreneurs are agents of payment institutions in Spain, and that they have a strong preference for Spain's Mediterranean regions: 256, or 82% of them are based there. Half of the 310 Indian agents have traditional Sikh names, suggesting that they have a Sikh background and that they or their families come from Punjab. Twenty percent of all the agents are Indian women. The personal nature of the agency contracts means not only a business for those women, but also status. Being an 'agent' has been found to be empowering, allowing these women spaces of personal autonomy seldom enjoyed by the average immigrant. Half of the Indian agents surveyed can be considered serial entrepreneurs, as they own several businesses, including travel agencies, supermarkets and IT services. Some have even built highly sophisticated financial services ventures. Although the focus of the text is on immigrants from India, the text also addresses other origins. The text is divided into two parts. The first is a description of the context, activity and the general dataset. The second concentrates on Indian entrepreneurs with a survey that included in-depth interviews.
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