Buenos Aires , Argentina ( CNN ) -- For Laura Dominguez , nothing tastes more like home than mate tea and dulce de leche , both typically Argentine flavors that she missed during the eight years she lived in Spain . In June , Dominguez , 36 , moved back to Argentina because the economic situation in Spain was so dire that she did n't see strong prospects there for herself or her three young daughters . Dominguez worked as a waitress in the beach resort town of Blanes in the CataluÃ±a region . She says tourism there has dropped considerably in recent years , compared to when she first arrived in 2003 and could count on five steady months of restaurant work . `` I had a job , and I was one of the lucky few . Almost everyone I knew in Spain was unemployed , '' says Dominguez . Over the past three years , the tourist season has shrunk to two months ; the domestic market has virtually disappeared and it 's holidaymakers from Germany and Holland who are keeping any life in the industry , she says . `` There were scores of closed businesses in Blanes . They just kept closing and closing and closing . Construction sites were paralyzed . Nearby , entire towns were abandoned . It reminded me of Argentina during our last crisis , '' she says . Argentina 's financial meltdown in 2001 -- when the country defaulted on $ 100 billion in debt -- is what sent Laura and thousands of other Argentines looking for a better life in Spain . The rowdy protests that took place on the streets of Buenos Aires a decade ago look similar to those currently taking place in Madrid and throughout Spain , where the latest unemployment numbers show that 21.5 percent of the Spanish population is jobless . When Spain holds parliamentary elections Sunday , current Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will step down but , according to opinion polls , his Socialist Party is expected to be punished . Dominguez said she made the tough decision to leave Spain and uproot her three daughters -- ages 13 , 9 and 7 -- because she was afraid of ending up homeless . Even with her own country 's volatile economic history , she thinks Argentina 's future is brighter than its past . `` I am from a country , Argentina , which has been in crisis for the last 30 years . The Spaniards are not accustomed to living in crisis . Argentines know how to live within our means . So this crisis is affecting all Spaniards terribly , '' she says . Spain and Argentina have always looked to one another in times of crisis . The largest Spanish community outside Spain resides in Argentina , and it 's commonly believed that nearly half of all Argentines have Spanish blood . These close cultural and linguistic ties have always made Spain a popular destination for Argentine immigrants seeking financial stability that Europe had traditionally offered . But with Spain 's bleak economic situation , and similar problems for its Eurozone neighbors , more and more Spaniards are now coming to Argentina . There are no official numbers on the amount of Spaniards who have immigrated to Argentina in recent years , but officials at the Spanish Embassy in Buenos Aires concede it is on the rise . `` I came to Buenos Aires because I lost my job in Madrid more than a year ago , and the situation in Spain is getting worse by the day . So I decided to try to take a different path and try my luck here , '' says makeup artist Paula Riofrio , 30 . Riofrio arrived in September on a one-way plane ticket , and said she has already had several promising interviews for makeup and hair styling work in the Argentine fashion industry . `` We were always used to seeing Argentines move to Spain , but now it is the other way around . And honestly , I think more and more Spaniards will be coming here soon , '' says Riofrio . For Laura Dominguez , the decision to return home to Argentina has already been a good one . She found a full-time job at a well-known international bank , and is confident she will soon be able to afford to move her family out of her parent 's apartment and into a place of their own . `` I feel lucky that I have a job and feel confident things will work out here for my family . But I will always love Spain and I hope it can recover soon , '' says Dominguez .
Argentinean workers in Spain are returning home for economic security . Spain hit by euro crisis has 21.5 percent unemployment ; and it 's more than double that for young people . Laura Dominguez said it was reminiscent of Argentina 's 2001 financial meltdown . She returned to Argentina -- and some Spanish workers are following her .