Scapegoat citizens in times of austerity: the impact of the crisis on the immigrant population in Spain

Abstract

The economic crisis has not yet produced alarming cases of racism and social conflict in Spain. However, as we shall analyse, there are indications that ‘immigrants’ are considered one of the first populations to be disposed of in times of crisis. A preference for nationals is increasing among traditional parties, alongside the rise of political parties with anti-immigrant agendas. Unemployment rates among the foreign born population are disproportionate in comparison with those of the native population. Migration policies that link residence permits to the possession of an employment contract have resulted in disturbing rates of irregularity. Health regulations have been amended to prevent irregular immigrants from accessing ‘universal’ health care. Police raids occur in public places to detain and expel undocumented immigrants, and ‘hospitality’ towards irregular immigrants is considered a criminal offence by a new reform in the Penal Code. As a parallel trend that is repeated in other European countries in times of austerity, we shall identify a depletion of universal rights, detention, and deportation as alienating strategies and technologies that are used to redefine the relations between citizens and ‘others’ within the contemporary citizenship regime. Leaning on Engin Isin's critical perspective on citizenship, this article argues that under the circumstances of crisis and austerity that harry Spain, the ‘immigrant’ is constructed as a disposable category, not only to balance the labour market and welfare state, but also to reinforce the notion of the national citizen as a subject of rights.

Keywords:

• citizenship
• economic crisis
• immigration
• institutional racism
• Spain

Notes

1. A lonja is a space located on the ground floor of a block of flats that was originally a shop but because of the crisis of small enterprises has closed and been converted into cheap housing.

2. Due to speculative banking practices, in the early 2000s it could be easier for an immigrant to get a mortgage to buy a house than to rent it. This was because tenants in Spain used to ask for a guarantee of six months or even a year's rent, while some banks offered home loans with no down payment. Many migrants also felt pressure to demonstrate home ownership in order fulfill the rules in family reunification applications.

3. There is a differentiation between nationalities. While the unemployment rate among EU citizens is around 33%, in the case of non-EU citizens it stands at 35.61%, with Latin American immigrants at around 40% and up to 47.2% among the rest, mainly in Africa and Asia.

4. Murders of immigrants occurred in Spain, such as the Dominican Lucrecia Pérez in Pozuelo de Alarcón in 1992 or those occurring in Ejido in 2000.

5. Terray called this the ‘relocation in situ’ to refer to

the employment of undocumented migrants, employed in sectors where offshoring is physically and materially impossible: construction, textile manufacturing pret a porter or with certificate of origin and quality, personal care, hotels and catering, and agriculture; in our own cities , in our own countries, but with the labour conditions of Third World countries: low wages, minimized protections, no union rights, appalling working conditions, unlimited working time, contracts not respected because the payments are always on hand, and so on. (2008, pp. 101–102)

6. Specifically, in 2005, during the incidents in the border fences of Ceuta and Melilla, immigration began to achieve prominence, passing to second place, overtaking even terrorism. In September 2006, coinciding temporally with the period when the media bombarded with news about the arrival of boats in the Canary Islands, immigration ranked as Spain’s main problem for 59% of respondents.