Between Spain and Latin America, migration has always taken place. Today Spain receives more Latin American immigrants than any other European country. To understand and value the current diplomatic, economic and social relations between Spain and Latin America, it is necessary to pay attention to the past, study the present and glimpse the future.

Latin America is characterised by a multilingual and pluricultural population with different indigenous peoples – in this case, we chose Guatemala as it is a country with a series of social and cultural differences that reflects well the general situation across the continent. It has a unique aspect also, in terms of the enormous cultural and natural variety contained within such a small area, making it a fascinating destination to study.

Guatemala is a country with a large mix of people: Spaniards, indigenous groups and Afro-Caribbeans, that have created a new society – one with great differences economically and in terms of status, but that, with time, has constituted a real human conglomerate for the country.

Over half of the population is descended from the Maya indigenous people. The westernised Mayas and the mestizos (mixed European and indigenous heritage) are reputed to be cunning and crafty. Most of the Guatemalan population is rural, even though the process of urbanisation is accelerating. The main religion is Roman Catholic, to which many indigenous Guatemalans have added other forms of worship. Protestantism and traditional Maya religions are estimated to be practised by 30% and 1% of the population respectively.

Although the official language is Spanish, this isn’t universally understood among the indigenous population. However, the Peace Agreements signed in December 1996 assure the translation of certain official documents and voting materials into various indigenous languages. There are more than 20 Maya languages currently in existence in the country, that is to say that there are more than 20 Maya groups, each different from the other.

The cultural diversity in such a small country (scarcely 108,890 km2) makes it more interested to look at why a huge number of people are emigrating to different parts of the world, the majority to the United States, complicating the economic and social situation of those who stay. Adapting to life in other countries is made more complicated and life in general takes on difficulties that are become obvious simply when you visit and talk to people.

There are many organisations working for cooperation and development in the country, but the cultural aspect can turn at any given moment and is a variable very difficult to control, so development becomes a difficult question to answer.

For these reasons the Actions for a Global Citizenship programme decided to offer 10 young people the chance to spend 31 days in an indigenous culture.