The children of immigrants have lately become news in several European countries, where there is growing concern that their poor integration is caused by a lack of economic and social oportunities. Although Spain has only relatively recently become an immigration country, and thus the second generation is still rather small in number and only just now coming of age, there is a growing need to know what is happening to it. This article looks at the situation of the 1.5 and second generations of Moroccan, Dominican and Peruvian origin in Spain. It reports survey data collected in Madrid and Barcelona amongst 14-25-year-old young people from these three ethnic groups. The findings show that opportunities and achievements for the second generation in the spheres of education and labour are below those of their native peers; their situation only slightly improves compared to that of their parents. However, the survey data also show that there are considerable differences in educational and occupational outcomes between the three groups. The Peruvian performance is particularly poor. This is all the more surprising because their starting position and integration strategy appear to be more favourable than those of both Dominicans and Moroccans. Differences in family structure and ethnic group cohesion could well be at the root of the problem. Further study is needed to confirm these findings.