European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

146 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYEvolution of foreigners living in SpainNo comunitariosComunitarios407.647 393.100 430.422461.364499.773538.984609.813719.647801.329938.789398.147 360.6551989 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 20001995205.047 294.726 499.7731999382.955 418.374 801.3292000515.955 422.828 938.783Fuente: Ministerio del Interior. El País.There are false, deeply-rooted prejudices which make immigration theideal scapegoat, and in Spain we have much less historical experiencethan in other EU countries. Five false ideas (which I cannot presentlyjustify, given the time constraints) are often aired 3 :1. Spain is threatened by a migratory “invasion”.2. Immigrants compete with national labour and cause salaries togo down.3. Immigrants wrongfully benefit from favourable social legislationand they even cause social benefits for Spaniards to diminish.4. Spain´s wealth provokes a “calling effect“ in poor countries.5. Immigration “threatens” to alter Spanish identity.These false ideas nourish a vicious cycle. Marginalization of thepropitiatory victim is justified through the continuos creation of thescapegoat. At the bottom of it all, there is fear, and repressive and policemeasures which do not deal with the origin and the cause of theseconflicts are, thus, still further justified. Exclusion (economic, political,3Five false ideas about immigration in Spain. Sami Naïr. Newspaper El País, May16 th , 2002.