Spain: Immigration: quotas in employment
01 January 1991
Spain: Immigration: quotas in employment
artdoc June=1993
Morocco, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines and Eastern
Europe are the countries most likely to be favoured by a new
quota system approved by the Spanish government whereby 10,500
temporary immigrant workers will be allowed to work in Spain,
while another 10,100 will be permitted to remain permanently in
the country.
The new quotas are the result of the government's
determination to `develop an active immigration policy in which
public institutions take the initiative in channelling and
organising the flow of legal immigration according to the need
for manual work in the Spanish economy and the capacity for
absorption within Spanish society' (El Pais 11.3.93).
The new quota system has caused pandemonium in Morocco where
thousands of Moroccans are fighting to obtain some of the 20,600
temporary work permits which will enable them to work in Spain.
The selection of candidates will be carried out during the coming
weeks by the members of a joint Spanish/Moroccan commission. In
this way the new quota system for temporary emigration will be
initiated, which is intended to end clandestine immigration to
Spain.
The offer of these work permits has produced large crowds
outside the Spanish consulates in Casablanca and Rabat,
culminating in violent incidents when Moroccan riot police broke
up the crowds, which had been blocking access to the consulates.
It was not the first time that such incidents have occurred in
front of the Consulate in Casablanca, where large queues usually
begin to form hours before the offices open, in the hope of
obtaining a visa. The situation has even resulted in the sale of
the privileged positions in the queues by professional
entrepreneurs (El Pais 15.4.93).
Barcelona official links immigrant numbers to growth of racism
The civil governor of Barcelona, Ferran Cardenal, has made a
controversial speech linking the growth of `latent racism' to the
`spectacular' increase in immigration. The governor went on to
defend the quota system and the Foreigners Law as the best way
to promote integration and peaceful coexistence with foreigners.
According to Cardenal, `Society has contradictory attitudes
towards immigrants. General tolerance becomes intolerance when
the problem comes too close'. The governor justified this
statement by referring to statistics which indicated that 61% of
Catalans consider that there are too many immigrants and would
like to see stricter enforcement of legislation restricting
entry. Quoting the philosopher Fernando Savater, Cardenal said
that `the extreme right is taking advantage of xenophobia, but
it did not invent it' (El Periodica 16.4.93).
IRR European Race Audit no 4 1993. Contact: Liz Fekete, Institute
of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke Street, London WC1X 9HS. Tel: ++ 071
837 0041