Homeward bound.

Most Latin American immigrants prefer to he buried in their native lands, sociologists say. Some see business in such death wishes. Memorial International, an Ecuadoran funeral-service company, repatriates bodies of family members of the 16.7 million Latin American immigrants living in the United States. Since nothing's sure but death and taxes, business has grown. Since opening in 1995, the company has set up shop in 15 countries in the region and the United States, either through its own offices or partnerships with funeral homes and insurance firms.

But the flow of Latin American immigrants over the past few years to Europe has prompted Memorial International to look to the other side of the Atlantic where it opened offices in Valencia, Murcia, Madrid and Milan within the last two years.

"Up until now, we were only in America because immigration was concentrated in the United States," says Pablo Cevallos, Memorial International's president. "In Spain there are 2.5 million Latinos and a million in Italy, which is why we established a binational funeral assistance network."

The company's policy provides funeral and repatriation services of the bodies for up to seven family members of the title-holder for a monthly fee of US$34. In Spain, the company has repatriated an average of two bodies to Latin America per month. However, an October 2005 business alliance with Spanish insurance company Preventia could raise that figure to seven out of the total market of 25 bodies flown back to Latin America.

In Spain, Ecuadoran, Colombian, Moroccan and Romanian communities make up the largest immigrant groups in the country, with Moroccan and Romanian communities seen as the big growth areas. "By mid-2006, we want to really be serving these two groups," says Sevallos. "It's a market opportunity we want to tap."