European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

18.Does Europe Admit Other Identities? Models ofIntegration in EuropeConcha del Palacio DuñabeitaSocial Sciences Education Department“Enrique de Ossó” FacultyUniversity of Oviedo, SpainThe construction of plural citizenship in a changing worldThe phenomenon of immigrationIf we yield to the daily impact of the headlines in Spain, one wouldsay that we are suffering (quite ironic when it is actually those raggedindividuals we watch without pity on the news who are suffering) anincessant invasion 1 of citizens of North African origin which threatensto throw the comfortable status quo we are so accustomed to intodisarray. This is a somewhat curious perception of the situation ofglobal migration, which is derived from a bias ethnocentric vision(whether it be the centre of Spain or Europe).Perhaps it is necessary to emphasise that massive migration occurs,above all, in the centre of the Southern countries due to arrival ofpeople from rural Africa, Asia and Latin America. The percentage ofthe population that makes it to the Western world is very low when wecompare it to other realities often overlooked by the media.1Faced with the phenomenon of immigration it is dangerous to try to justify analarmist message that attempts to irresponsibly promote the idea of a mini invasionagainst which action must be taken. This, which is the basis of the most extreme racistsand xenophobes and which permits the rejection of immigration in public withoutmoderation or fear, has been the seed in other European countries that has allowedpolitical parties on the extreme right of the political spectrum to consolidate theirpositions.