The OPAM is an initiative of the regional government of Andalusia, the Junta de Andalucía; administratively, it pertains to the Directorate General of Coordination of Migration Policies (DGCPM). The Observatory’s goals include the collection, treatment and analysis of statistical and documental information on international migration to Andalusia an its economic, social and cultural impact, its evolution, and its comparison with other regions and countries; the generation and analysis of primary data especially on public attitudes toward immigration; and the broad dissemination of results obtained on all of the above.

From 2007 through 2013, the OPAM was managed by a multidisciplinary team of IESA technicians and scientists, in close cooperation with the DGCPM. During this period, a broad range of new publications and activities were launched, including among others:

• Statistical exploitations of a vast array of secondary sources;
• Electronic newsletters;
• Theme-specific explorations of relevant aspects (“Tema OPAM”);
• Annual reports on the evolution of demographic, economic, and attitude-related facets of international migration;
• Seminars designed to promote the reflexive interchange of ideas between academic experts and policymakers.

In the OPAM framework, the IESA-CSIC also ran four additional waves of the OPIA study (Andalusians’ opinions and attitudes regarding immigration), the first edition of which had been fielded in 2005 as stand-alone study. The volume and quality of its activities turned the OPAM in one of Spain’s most relevant and recognized migration observatories. Close cooperation with the nationwide observatory (OPI), as well as regional ones based in the Basque country (IKUSPEGUI), Navarra (ORS) and Tenerife (OBITen), respectively, resulted in a joint study of the dynamics of immigration in Spain’s various regions, in many ways an innovative piece of research whose results were published in two monographs edited by OPI.