ENAR Shadow Report 2009/10: Racism and discriminatory practices in Spain

In 2009, the economic crisis has fed racism into social and political discourse. According to the Eurobarometer, 66% of Spanish citizens think that ethnic discrimination is widespread and 45% would like to live in a society where most people would have the same origin, culture and religion. In 2009, there were more than 5.000.000 non-Spanish citizens living in the country (12% of total population); Romanian, Moroccan and Ecuadoreans being the largest groups. Foreigners are more vulnerable to racism due to their different national and/or ethnic origin. Among them, undocumented migrants, unaccompanied minors and migrant women are more frequently victims of abuses. Asylum seekers also encounter special difficulties due to a lack of information and cumbersome administrative procedures. After the Madrid bombings in 2004, Muslims have also been victims of stereotypes linked with Islamist terrorism. Although the Roma situation has improved, they also suffer from social and institutional discrimination. In 2009, unemployment increased twofold for foreigners than for Spaniards and reached a rate of 30.79%. Ethnicity and religion were important barriers for accessing employment, especially for Roma and Moroccans. Ethnic minorities’ unemployment has negatively affected housing conditions: overcrowding rates have risen and landlords are reluctant to rent their properties to migrants. Education main concerns are the unequal distribution of migrants between public and semi-private schools, underperformance in cases of late schooling and lack of access to higher education. In the field of health, language and cultural differences are starting to be addressed, but full access to healthcare services is not guaranteed for undocumented migrants.In the landmark case of Rosalind Williams v. Spain, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) condemned ethnic profiling practices, but the Government has admitted its practice for fighting irregular migration. Racist offences were reported in night clubs, football matches, Mosques and Synangogues. Discrimination in the access to goods and services concerned transport, financial services, shops, bars and public services. In some cases, security guards were directly involved. During the last year the media have usually referred to migrants in a context of indebtedness, insecurity, crime and Islamist terrorism. The use of Internet, especially social networks, has increased substantially. The major development in the area of anti-discrimination was the setting up of the Spanish Race and Ethnic Equality Council (SREEC). However, no public campaign was launched informing the public about its duties. Concerning religious discrimination, the Senate approved a proposal for forbidding of the use of burkas and niqabs in the public space. In the field of migration and integration, immigration and asylum laws were amended. Positive aspects of the new laws include the insertion of family reunification rights for registered partnerships and explicit recognition of legal residents’ rights to access public employment. However, undocumented migrants’ detention period has been extended from 40 to up to 60 days.