Last month saw the release of the film Alacrán enamorado, the story of promising boxer Julián and his group of heavily-tattooed, neo-nazi friends, who spend their days in the ring and their nights beating up immigrants and members of ethnic minorities. Despite some strong performances, instead of tackling the complexity of the subject full on, this adaptation of Carlos Bardem's third novel is ultimately a superficial story of love and triumph against the odds. All of which is a shame, as Alacrán enamorado raises some potentially interesting questions regarding race relations in Spain. Figures published by the Spanish Institute for National Statistics reveal that immigration has risen … [Read more...] about Spain still wrestles with immigration
immigration
Spain turns right, but where’s the far right?
Viewed in a certain light - and especially through a myopic leftist lens - the centre-right Popular Party's landslide victory on the anniversary of Franco's death could be seen as an ironic twist of fate, a disquieting rise of the phoenix: The party was, after all, founded by a former minister in Franco’s government and many of its elderly voters were supporters of the regime. Now the PP, led by Mariano Rajoy (who, ironically enough, was born less than 100 kilometres from Franco's birthplace in Galicia in north-western Spain), will have sweeping powers to pass laws and institute reforms. In the run-up to election day, no one wanted to make too obvious the link between the dates - … [Read more...] about Spain turns right, but where’s the far right?
Spain gets secular… with its Muslims
A Madrid state-run secondary school’s decision to ban a 16-year-old female pupil from wearing a hijab, or Islamic headscarf, to classes has hit the headlines, bringing to the surface the uncomfortable issue of the place in public life of Spain’s more than one million Muslims. The Camilo José Cela school in the prosperous Madrid suburb of Pozuelo has decided that Najwa Malha, who was born in Spain to Moroccan immigrants, has violated its dress code by wearing the hijab. The school’s board has ratified the decision by an overwhelming majority, and Malha has been receiving individual tuition in the school’s waiting room. Her options are simple: accept the ban and remove her headscarf, or … [Read more...] about Spain gets secular… with its Muslims
Catalonia, immigration and populism
The attorney general’s announcement on January 20 that plans by the Catalan town of Vic to stop registering undocumented immigrants on its census were unlawful appeared to bring the furore surrounding the case to a close. After an outcry on the part of immigrant and human rights groups, Joaquin de Fuentes Bardají insisted that any immigrant should be able to register in their local municipality with just a passport (a visa or other documents being unnecessary) and therefore gain access to health and education services. But while Vic now appears unlikely to push ahead with its controversial initiative, this town of less than 40,000, just under a quarter of whom are migrants, has managed … [Read more...] about Catalonia, immigration and populism
If language be the food of understanding, talk on
"Why are you interested in learning Arabic?” the teacher probed. It was a question intended to get us talking, to introduce ourselves and explain why we had chosen to give up two hours of our lives twice a week to sit in a drab high school classroom in Palma de Mallorca. For travel, said some of my classmates; an interest in Arabic culture and music, answered others. A few wanted to learn the mother tongue of a husband or wife. The first two of those reasons were also in part my own. But I also had other motives: “Because of the world we live in,” I said. As a journalist writing about Spanish and European politics and social issues for the last decade, I have borne witness to the … [Read more...] about If language be the food of understanding, talk on