World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Spain

Environment

Spain occupies most of the Iberian peninsula and also includes the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and small enclaves in Morocco: Ceuta and Mellila.

History

The North African Moors ruled most of the Iberian peninsula from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries. In the far north, there arose powerful Christian local magnates with strong family alliances. From the eleventh century, during the period known as the Reconquista, these families gradually united against the Moors. In 1492 Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, rulers of the two most powerful kingdoms, ended the Muslim presence in Spain.

The expulsion of an estimated 800,000 Jews and 3 million Muslims, and the persecution of Roma/Gypsies, enforced national unification through religious belief and orthodoxy, but local institutions survived. Spain embarked on three centuries of conquest in the Americas, during which time the separatist claims of the northern regions - each economically linked to different colonial possessions - grew. From the sixteenth century the colonial wealth was dissipated in internal religious and dynastic power struggles and in external wars. In 1714, when Bourbon rule was established following the War of the Spanish Succession (a civil and external war), the state was centralized. Occupation by French forces in the Napoleonic era strengthened this.

In 1823 Spain was incapable of defending its American colonies against the United States' Monroe Doctrine (that Latin America was a US sphere of interest). The Spanish-American War of 1898 against the United States, known as 'The Disaster', led to the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and a number of Pacific Islands to the United States. In the early twentieth century Spain took colonies in Western Sahara, Spanish Morocco and Equatorial Guinea. But a badly planned invasion of Morocco led to defeat in 1921.

The monarchy was discredited and General Miguel Primo de Rivera set up a military dictatorship from 1923 to 1931. In 1931 the Second Spanish Republic offered political autonomy to the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia and gave voting rights to women. However, regional autonomy was short-lived on account of the 1936-9 Civil War. The 1939 Nationalist victory was followed by rigorous centralization, the dismantling of regional authorities and brutal reprisals against dissent. The regime of General Francisco Franco banned every language and dialect other than Castilian, banned regional cultural manifestations, and imposed national unity in education and the media. Resistance turned violent after the Basque separatist organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) was formed in 1959. Catalan demands for autonomy also grew, but with less violence. These movements and the government response helped discredit right-wing politics and prepared the way for reform once General Franco died in 1975. The 1978 Constitution created a decentralized structure with autonomy for regions and communities.

From 1850 until the 1970s Spain was a country of emigration. In the twentieth century 6 million Spaniards emigrated. Until the 1930s the destination of choice was Latin America, especially Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Cuba. From the 1950s three-quarters of emigrants left for northern Europe under guest worker programmes. Many were obliged to return on account of the oil crises and economic recession of the 1970s. Tourism and industrialization were increasing in Spain at this time. The Spanish economy rapidly modernized and strengthened after Spain joined the European Union in 1986. Then Spain became a destination for high-income immigrants from other EU countries and for migrant labourers from North Africa and Latin America. In 1995 Spain applied the terms of the Schengen Convention, an open-border system between certain EU member states. Spain became a transit point for migrant workers wanting to enter the EU and travel north. The number of low-income immigrants increased rapidly from 1999, causing alarm among politicians, the media and the electorate.

The Franco era left a legacy of harsh policing. Spain has been criticized over the years by national and international human rights organizations for its police harassment of and brutality against Gypsies, new minorities, asylum seekers, illegal immigrants and Basque nationalists.

Peoples

Main languages: Castilian Spanish, Catalán, Valencià (Valencian), Euskadi (Basque), Galego (Galician)

Main religion: Roman Catholicism

Minority groups include: Catalans 7 million (15.8%), Galicians 2.8 million (6.3%), Basques 1.2 million (2.7%), Roma/Gypsies 650,000-800,000 (1.5-1.8%), Ecuadoreans 479,978 (1.1%), Moroccans 468,797 (1.1%), Romanians 308,856 (0.71%), Colombians 268,144 (0.62%), Asians 176,290 (0.41%) and Jews 20,000 (0.05%). Other Latin Americans number 693,451 (1.6%) and other Africans 194,359 (0.45%).¹

Catalans live in Catalonia in north-east Spain and in the Balearic Islands, Valencians south of Catalonia in Valencia, Galicians in Galicia in the north-west and Basques in the region on either side of the western Pyrenees, the majority in Spain.

Around 80 per cent of Spaniards state that their religion is Roman Catholicism.

New minorities

There are officially some 3.7 million non-citizens in Spain, with a further estimated 600,000 undocumented immigrants.

After Spain joined the European Union in 1985, industry, agriculture and services developed rapidly. Immigration became a problem from the 1990s and more particularly from 1999. Many of Spain's legal foreign residents are retired citizens from other EU countries, but these have now been overtaken in numbers by Latin Americans, and increasing numbers from Morocco and Eastern Europe, especially Romania. Some Romanian immigrants are Gypsies.

New minorities work mostly in the service sector (59 per cent) and in agriculture (21 percent). Most Latin Americans and Asians are involved in the service sector, while 39 per cent of Africans are employed in agriculture, and 15 per cent of East Europeans work in construction.

New minorities are most numerous in Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia and Madrid. The Canary Islands have become a destination for African boat people. There is considerable illegal immigration through Ceuta and Mellila.

Governance

The 1978 Constitution proclaims 'the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation', while recognizing and guaranteeing 'the right to autonomy of the nationalities and the regions'. The 'nationalities' are Catalonia, Euskadi (the Basque Country) and Galicia, all of which had majority votes for autonomy under the 1931 Constitution. Together with Andalusia, they have achieved autonomy under Article 151 of the 1978 Constitution.

Other regions negotiated autonomy statutes under Article 143, which gave reduced powers in comparison with Article 151. The constitutional court plays a crucial role in resolving disputes and in shaping the nature of the relationship between the 17 autonomous regions and central government.

Autonomy under Article 151 devolves education and housing policy to the regions. Some regions, such as the Balearic Islands, whose autonomy statutes derive from Article 143, have been able to increase their autonomy to gain full control over education.

The constitution guarantees civil rights and equality before the law without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The 1985 Law on Foreign Status sets visa, residency and work permit quotas for temporary immigrant workers. Family reunification was not encouraged. Work permits could be renewed but, in practice, it was difficult for foreign workers to do so. Penalties for employers who hired undocumented workers were not enforced, leading to an increasing number of illegal immigrants. The 1996 law recognized immigrants' rights to equality, education and legal advice. It allowed regional governments to provide for the welfare of immigrant children. It established a permanent resident category and formally included family reunification within its framework.

Law 4/2000, adopted by the Socialist government, allowed for the integration of legal immigrants but it also allowed for the expulsion of illegal immigrants to their country of origin. It failed to address the difficulties for employers and immigrant workers in obtaining and renewing work permits. It also failed to take account of the difficulties of local authorities in establishing the country of origin of many undocumented immigrants. These problems remained, despite the more stringent Law 8/2000, passed without debate by the Popular Party government, and which came into force in January 2001. This made a clearer distinction between legal and illegal immigrants and withdrew education rights for the children of illegal immigrants. From 2001, agreements were signed with the governments of Ecuador, Colombia, Morocco, Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Poland and Romania to control immigration to Spain in the main sending countries.

Law 8/2000 and 4/2000 were both reformed in 2003, with measures making it easier to deport immigrants who committed crimes and giving police access to local authority records. The 2004 reform, effective in 2005, focused on reducing the black market economy and offered a regularization process for around 800,000 out of 1.2 million illegal immigrants.

Amnesties for illegal immigrants in 1986, 1991, 1996, 2000, 2001 and 2005 bear testimony to the ineffectiveness of immigration laws.

The autonomous regional and community authorities have set up departments to deal with immigrant affairs.

Children acquire Spanish citizenship automatically if one parent is Spanish, if they are born in Spain or one of their parents was born in Spain. Foreigners can take Spanish nationality if they have been living in Spain for 10 years, have adequate knowledge of the language, are integrated into society, have a certificate of good conduct from the police and renounce their previous nationality.

European Union Equal Treatment directives regarding race and employment were enacted in Spanish law in December 2003. The Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia was opened in March 2005 to track racism and propose measures against it. The creation of a Council to ensure the implementation of the EU directives was discussed in 2005 without further result.

The conservative Popular Party lost the general elections in 2004 partly because it blamed ETA for the March 2004 Madrid bombings, although initial evidence pointed to Al Qaeda. It had banned both ETA and the Basque separatist party Herri Batasuna in 2003, although party members kept their seats in the Basque regional parliament by changing the name of the party.

Minorities

• Basques
• Catalans
• Galicians
• Gypsies
• Valencians

Resources

Minority based and advocacy organisations

General

Acció Cultural Pais Valencia
Email: info@acpv.net
Website: www.acpv.net

Amnesty International
Tel: +34 91 310 1277
Email: info@es.amnesty.org
Website: www.es.amnesty.org

Asociación de Enseñantes con Gitanos
Tel: +34 91 665 0457
Email: aecgit@pangea.org
Website: http://www.pangea.org/aecgit/

Asociación de Solidaridad con los Trabajadores Inmigrantes
Tel: +34 91 365 6518
Email: asti@asti-madrid.com
Website: http://www.asti-madrid.com

Colectivo IoE
Tel: +34 91 531 0123
Email: ioe@colectivoioe.org
Website: http://www.colectivoioe.org

HOEGOA [Basque] Centro de Documentación e Investigación, Facultad de Económica de la UPV
Website: http://www.hegoa.ehu.es

Presencia Gitana (Gipsy Presence)
Tel: +34 91 373 6207
Email: anpregit@telefonica.net

SOS Racismo Madrid
Tel: +34 91 559 2906
Email: sosracismomad@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.sosracismomadrid.org/home.php

Movimiento contra la Intolerancia
Tel: +34 91 530 7199
Website: http://www.movimientocontralaintolerancia.com/

SAJ (Colegio de Abogados de Madrid)
Tel: +34 91 435 7810 Extensión 815
Email: saj.racismo@icam.es
Website: http://www.icam.es/_noticias/sa/noticias_sa_1.jsp

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
[Umbrella organization for human rights NGOs in the OSCE area]
Website: http://www.ihf-hr.org

BASTA Ya
[campaigning organization for victims of terrorism]
Website: http://www.bastaya.org/www2/portada.php

Catalans

Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Tel Fax Email Web
Tel: +34 93 270 1620
Email: informacio@iec.cat
Website: www.iec.cat

Valencianos

Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua
[official standardization organization)]
Tel: +34 96 387 4023
Website: http://www.avl.gva.es

Academia de Cultura Valenciana
Tel: +34 96 391 6965
Website: http://www.racv.es/

Galicians

Bloque Nacionalista Galego (Galician Nationalist Party)
Tel. +34 98 155 5850
Email: sedenacional@bng-galiza.org
Web: http://www.bng-galiza.org

A Mesa pola Normalización Lingüística
Tel. +34 98 156 3885
Email: amesa@amesanl.org
Website: http://www.amesanl.org

Instituto da Lingua Galega
Tel: +34 98 156 5283
Website: http://www.usc.es/ilgas/

Basques

Behatokia (Basque Observatory of Human Rights)
Tel: +34 94 333 6478
Website: http://www.behatokia.info/aurkezpena.php

Torturaren Aurkako Taldea (Group Against Torture - part of Behatokia)
Tel: +34 94 333 3674
Website: http://www.stoptortura.com/

ETXERAT (Association of Relatives of the Politically Repressed - part of Behatokia)
Email: prentsa@etxerat.info
Website: http://www.etxerat.info/

ESKUBIDEAK
[Basque Solicitors Association - part of Behatokia]
Email: eskubideak@eskubideak.org
Website: http://www.eskubideak.org/

Roma/Gypsies

Unión Romaní
Tel: +34 93 412 7745
Email: u-romani@pangea.org
Website: http://www.unionromani.org/

Asociación de Enseñantes con Gitanos
Tel: +34 91 665 0457
Email: aecgit@pangea.org
Website: http://www.pangea.org/aecgit/

Asociación Nacional Presencia Gitana
Tel: +34 91 373 6207
Email: anpregit@telefonica.net

Fundación Secretariado Gitano
Tel: +34 91 422 0960
Email: fsg@gitanos.org
Website: www.gitanos.org

Sources and further reading

General

Abellan, A.C., Marginalidad de la población gitana española, Murcia, Universidad de Murcia, 1992.

Collins, R., The Basques, Oxford, Blackwell, 1986.

Forsyth, M., Federalism and Nationalism, Leicester, Leicester University Press, 1989.

Gunter, R. (ed.), Politics, Society and Democracy: The Case of Spain, Oxford, Westview Press, 1993.

Liégeois, J.-P. and Gheorghe, N., Roma/Gypsies: A European Minority, London, MRG, 1995.

Medhurst, K., The Basques and Catalans, London, MRG, 1987.

Economic and Social Council of the Region of Murcia, La inmigración en la Región de Murcia, Murcia, Colección de Estudios CES, 1997.

Gimeno Jiménez, L., Actitudes hacia la inmigración. Relación entre las investigaciones cualitativas y cuantitativas, Madrid, Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 2001.

Instituto de migraciones y Servicios Sociales, La inmigración y el asilo en España, Madrid, Ministry of Labor and Social Affaire, 1998.

Martín Díaz, E., Melis Maynar, A. and Sanz Casas, G., Mercados de trabajo e inmigración extracomunitaria en la agricultura mediterránea, Seville, Consejería de Asuntos Sociales de la Junta de Andalucía, 2001.

Amnesty International, Report 2006, section on Spain, retrieved 15 Dec. 2006, http://web.amnesty.org/report2006/esp-summary-eng

Catalans

Lletra (Catalan literature website), Open University of Catalonia: http://www.lletra.net/

Raco Catala (online news and information service regarding all Catalan communities): www.racocatala.cat

Valencians

Climent-Ferrando, V., The Origins and Evolution of Language Secessionism in Valencia: An Analysis from the Transition Period until Today, Ciemen, 2005.

Colomina i Castanyer, J., Els valencians i la llengua normativa, Textos universitaris. Alacant: Institut de Cultura 'Juan Gil- Albert', 1995.

Galicians

Galego org (online cultural information and links in Galician, Spanish and English): http://www.galego.org/index.html

Galego21.org (Galician software development forum): http://www.galego21.org/

Álvarez Blanco, R., Santamarina Fernández, A. and Fernández, F. (eds), Rei A Lingua Galega. Historia e Actualidade, Actas do I Congreso Internacional vols I-III, Santiago de Compostela, Consello da Cultura Galega/Instituto da Lingua Galega, 2005.

Jordán Cólera, C., Celtibérico, Zaragoza, 2005.

Basques

Martinez-Herrera, E., 'National extremism and outcomes of state policies in the Basque Country, 1979-2001', International Journal on Multicultural Studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2002.

Roma/Gypsies

Calin Rus (2004) 'The training of Roma/Gypsy school mediators and assistants', Council of Europe, retrieved 12 Oct. 2005, http://www.coe.int/t/e/cultural_co- operation/education/Roma-Gypsy_children/publication16_24EN.pdf

ECRI, Third Report on Spain, Council of Europe, 24 June 2005.

Fundación Secretariado Gitano, Población Gitana y Empleo - Un estudio comparado, 2005 (also available in English)