Entre protection des droits et mondialisation
Dynamiques migratoires marocaines : histoire, économie,
politique et culture
|
Communication
[L'intervention format pdf]
[Annexe 1 format pdf]
[Annexe 2 foramt pdf]
|
Ana María López Sala
|
|
Moroccan Migration and Policy Response in Spain:
Old and New Challenges for the State.
1. Introduction. A Recent Transition of Migratory Patterns.
Spain became a country of immigration during the final decades of
the twentieth century. The considerable amount of Spanish emigration
at
the beginning of the century and during the sixties is described in
specialist literature as being the result of a fundamentally agricultural
economy unable to provide enough employment opportunities for the large
population (Palazón Ferrando, S: 1995; Sánchez Albornoz,
N: 1988; Sánchez Alonso, B: 1995).
The 1970s saw the beginning of a change in trend which led to a
transition of migratory patterns which today is in its final stages – migrants
are no longer returning to their native country, the amount of seasonal
migration
has become insignificant and there has been a tendency towards the emigration
of highly skilled Spaniards to other western countries – seen in the
example of the health professionals who move to Great Britain. In terms of
flow, immigration into Spain began to increase during the eighties and continued
to do so at a steady pace, seeing a somewhat sharper rise at the end of the
decade and also in the second half of the nineties. Although in terms of
stock, the number of foreigners resident in Spain more or less equals the
number of
Spaniards living abroad, the tendency in the medium term is to consolidate
Spain as a country of immigration and incorporate it into the European migratory
system as a country of destination. The most recent figures available suggest
that in 2001 there were 1,100,000 foreigners living in Spain, therefore constituting
more than 2% of the population(1).
Immigration into Spain has given rise to
a great internal diversity. It is important to mention, however, the three
main areas of origin: Europe, South
America and Morocco. Economic migration has taken place alongside residential
immigration of retired Europeans (chiefly Germans and Britons) whose numbers,
however, decreased, in relative terms, throughout the nineties. Amongst
the European flow were emigrants from some of the countries of the
former Soviet
Union. At the beginning of the nineties, the majority of Eastern European
citizens arriving in Spain came from Poland. Nowadays, with the previous
flow depleted,
a new Eastern European flow, this time from Romania, has begun.
Immigration
from South America has been one of the longest standing and also that
which has seen the most change with regard to origin. Immigration
from
the Southern Cone (Argentina, Chile and Uruguay), the most pioneering,
was overtaken at the beginning of the nineties by flows from Peru and the
Dominican
Republic. By the dawn of the 21st century the flow from the Andes area
had increased dramatically, especially from Ecuador and Columbia, flows
with
a reinforced strength due to the situation at the source and, as stated
by Antonio
Izquierdo, due to the preferable politics at the destination (Izquierdo
Escribano, A: 2002). The figures from the two latest supplementary regularisations
(2000
and 2001) seem to suggest a trend towards an increase, in relative terms,
of the number of South Americans living in Spain. This new-fledged strong
South
American flow was combined at the beginning of this century with a renewed
impulse from the traditional streams coming from Argentina and Venezuela
which acquired new prominence as a result of the political and economic
crises in
both countries.
The 1990s saw immigration from Morocco, the main source of Spanish
immigration over the last ten years, step into the foreground. The
numbers coming from
Morocco became apparent with the second regularisation of immigrants
which took place in 1991, a supplementary procedure due to the first
official
Spanish declaration on immigration policy: The non-legislative Proposal
of 1991.
This act of amnesty, one more of those which were to take place during
the nineties
as a result of the need to carry out documentation procedures in the
face of a legal framework which had given rise to legal instability
in all of
the new
countries of immigration in Southern Europe (Solanes, A: 2002), revealed
that there were over 100,000 illegal foreigners living in Spain (just
under half
of which were Moroccan) and, above all, confirmed that Spain was a “desired
destination” of the migratory flow originating in Morocco, not a place
of transit, and that a large proportion of the immigrants had plans to settle
in Spain (Aragón Bombín, R y Chozas Pedrero, J: 1993). According
to data from 2001, their numbers increased throughout the nineties to reach
20% of the total.
|
2. Characteristics of Spain’s Moroccan Community |
|
Throughout the nineties, the Moroccan community in Spain underwent
a series of developments. In fact, in spite of the continuity of the
arrivals, Moroccan immigration
in Spain does not exactly correspond to the stereotype of the young, unskilled,
male immigrant, but rather the community has been subjected to a process
of internal social and legal diversification combining several processes:
* In spite of the fact that the majority of this group still fall
between the
ages of 24 and 44 years, an increase throughout the decade in the numbers
of children and adolescents was noted. Family reunification and births
in Spain
caused a rise in the number of under-18s, just as the beginning of an inflow
- small yet of particular concern to the authorities - of unaccompanied
children. Not only did this become apparent through details obtained
of residents categorised
by gender and age, but also by the application of data on foreign children
within the education system.
* The relative number of males, in comparison with females, emigrating
from Morocco to Spain is far higher than in flows from other countries,
especially some South
American countries such as the Dominican Republic or in flows which these
days are small, such as those from the Philippines. Nevertheless, there
are also a
significant number of women among the Moroccan immigrants, stabilising
at a figure which reached almost one third of the total during the
second half of the nineties.
Studies carried out on gender and immigration have shown the invisibility
of women in analyses on international population movement and, more
recently, the
perception of the female as simply being the spouse of a male immigrant
and part of a family reunification process (Morokvasic, M: 1984, 1988,
Gregorio, C: 1998,
Oso, L: 1998; Kofman, E: 1999) .
* Although it is difficult for figures to confirm, qualitative studies
point out that over the last few years there has been a increase in the
flow of
women who have undergone the migration process as pioneers, whether with
the family
in mind or not. The terms which are offered by the labour market of the
recipient country, particularly in the private services sector, allow
many women, whether
previously employed or unemployed, skilled or unskilled, to quickly find
a job and a certain amount of legal security – in contrast, to
a large extent, with their male counterparts. The conditions of work
in this sector are particularly
harsh, but are, according to discourse analysis of these women, compensated
for by the security and stability that the job provides them with, elements
which
are highly valued (Martín Muñoz, G; Castaño, F.J,
López
Sala, A y Crespo, R: 2003). Likewise, a combination of economic and social
factors in their native country has given rise, especially, to an influx
of highly qualified,
urban, middle class women.
* The presence of Moroccans among students is not a new concept as
far as Spain is concerned, although their numbers appeared to increase
slightly
during the
nineties and with a particular concentration in Granada (Colectivo
IOE: 1994, Izquierdo Escribano, A: 1997). According to the figures of
residence
permits
granted for reasons of study, after the Americans, the largest community
of foreign students in the Spanish university system with this kind
of permit are the Moroccans.
* Moroccan immigration shows a norm of high spatial concentration,
a norm which remained unchanged throughout the nineties. According
to the
most
recent statistics,
Moroccan immigrants are mainly concentrated in three autonomous regions:
Catalonia, Andalusia and Madrid, followed a long way behind by Murcia,
Valencia and, more
recently, the Canary Islands.
* Likewise, insertion into the labour market is highly concentrated
in certain sectors where there is a lack of national manpower. The
majority
of Moroccan
immigrants are employed in agriculture, construction and the service
industries. Structural conditions of the labour market and the advancement
of procedures
by the Spanish government explain this norm of high labour concentration
allowing us to speak of an ethnic segregation in the labour market
of the recipient country
(Cachón, L: 2002), which, for the time being, could be hindering
the processes of social mobility.
|
3. Immigration as an Object of Public Policy in the Case
of Spain |
|
Spain’s immigration policy is just as new a concept as the flows of immigrants
arriving. For almost a century, the actions of the Spanish government were directed,
as is the case with our southern European neighbours, as much towards controlling
the streams of people leaving as towards the protection of Spanish nationals
living abroad. Government action, in general, has shadowed changes in society
with the first measure of a legislative nature to be taken on foreign immigration
into Spain dating back to 1985, when the first law for the rights and liberties
of foreign nationals was approved, commonly known as Ley de Extranjería.
The figures for immigrants arriving in Spain for that year hardly
exceeded 250,000 and were mainly made up of those coming from developed
countries.
This law, therefore,
seems unnecessary if we look at the size and composition of the non-native
community who, nevertheless, generated the need for a new set of rules
for alien status
in our country. Previously, legal provisions allowed nationals from countries
with which Spain had maintained strong historical ties to live and work
in Spain once they had registered.
Spain’s transformation into a country of immigration was a process
which ran parallel to its integration into the European Union, with the
result that
the provisions made with regard to alien status were seen as being heavily
influenced by the norms of dynamics developed at the core of the Union
and by the process
of the free movement of workers. These dynamics created a first and seminal
division between those who were E. U. members and those who were not, as
far as the terms
of alien status were concerned - something which is necessarily reflected
in government actions.
Although immigration did not make a definitive entrance into the
political agenda until the early nineties, 1991 to be precise, this
policy has already
undergone
extensive reformation as far as its objectives, complexity and structure
are concerned.
The first actions taken, considered to be of greatest urgency, focused
on the control and regulation of the inflows. The early nineties are
typified by the
government’s obsession with gaining control. Measures were taken
towards consolidating strict procedures to regulate entrance into Spain
and settlement
on Spanish territory. From this followed the development of actions
such as border control, particularly along the Straights of Gibraltar,
the establishment
of
the immigration quota policy, the implementation of the visa policy
(imposed on natives of several South American countries and Moroccans),
the procedures
for obtaining papers, the signing of agreements (with Morocco) for
the repatriation of immigrants and the reformation of asylum and refuge
regulations.
Political loopholes at this time, such as the lack of regulation
of family reunification and the development of actions in the sphere
of
integration
were, however, accompanied
by an expansion of the network of policies on civilian society and
social organisations. This expansion of networks tallied with a certain
indifference
on behalf of the
public and with the consolidation of the first ethnic organisations.
Likewise, during these years, immigration gave new rise to the establishment
and
reformation of institutions.
The objective of the social integration of immigrants was not incorporated
into the national agenda until the second half of the nineties, a process
which was,
in part, promoted by social organisations and resulting in a flagship
document for the aims of integration: The Plan for Social Integration
of Immigrants
(el Plan para la Integración Social de los Inmigrantes). Throughout
the second half of the nineties the Permanent Observatory on Immigration
was formed, The
National Forum for the integration of immigrants into society, and
the town halls and autonomous regions began to gain a new level of
management and
control over
immigration. Without the objective of controlling the flows losing
strength, integration into society became the new challenge. In the
late nineties,
the voice, in the sense of the word coined by A. Hirschmann, that is
to say, the
demands made by the associations of immigrants centred on legal stability
and insertion into the workplace.
The late nineties latently show the change in conditions within
which, up until this point, the formation of the Spanish immigration
policy
had taken place,
as was demonstrated in the heated debate which took place at the time
of the reformation of the law. The year 2000 saw an inflection of the
previous
dynamic.
Added to the tragic events at El Ejido was the reformation of law 4/2000
which came about from the understanding that immigration was to be
a long-term phenomenon
and which gave rise to legal stabilisation by means of establishing
a permanent system of regularisation. During this year, the topic of
control
returned
to the political forum with force, although this time it was accompanied
by the
issue of security. Immigration re-emerged onto the political scene
as a topic of national security linked to networks of people-trafficking
and
more recently,
from the last few months of 2001 onwards, to terrorist networks. Over
the last three years, the struggle against illegal immigration has
taken
up
the efforts
of a large proportion of the Spanish government.
At the beginning of the year 2000, immigration appeared in public-opinion
polls as the third greatest concern of the Spanish people, even in
areas which had
hardly received any immigrants. These opinion polls revealed an “invasion
psychosis” and the idea that immigrants pose a threat to jobs of Spanish
nationals. Opinion polls also revealed that people identified immigrants with
Moroccans, despite the many different nationalities of immigrants within Spain,
and that people, including a relatively large number of politicians, associated
immigration with crime. Some other slogans which appeared in the political arena
were that of the “tolerance threshold”, the view that there were
too many immigrants and that they could cause a threat to the “majority
culture” (Valles, M; Cea, M.A e Izquierdo Escribano, A: 1999).
In the year 2000, immigration emerged as a popular topic in the
election campaign, capable of winning over new supporters and altering
the balance
between the political
parties, especially in those regions where immigration was more prominent.
The effects were evident, especially in local politics, but throughout
the country
public opinion became the protagonist of “control of the control” (Wihtol
de Wenden, C: 2001). Besides this, another measure linked to control - the expulsion
procedures - began to be seen as “useful” ways of controlling
the settlement of immigrants in Spain. As was demonstrated in the case
of the Ecuadorian
immigrants, this is a measure of high expense which has little effect
on the stock.
The border control at the Straits of Gibraltar has had a knock-on
effect on other entrance routes and although immigration continues
to be carried
out legally
and through airports, the last few years have seen a marked increase
in immigration into the Canary Islands. The policing of the Straits
has been
intensified
as a measure of control, along with the development of initiatives
to impede entrance
through the “Canary route”.
Integration acts have multiplied throughout Spain. Different autonomous
regions have set up regional forums and special projects, and little
by little the migration
issue has been transversely incorporated into educational and social
policies as well as those of equal opportunities. Nevertheless, policies
of integration
have adopted the form of indirect policies where the immigrant collective
is another of the social sectors to receive services. It is important
to emphasise
here the insignificance of the action that has been taken with regard
to mother tongue, residential distribution and housing.
At the beginning of this decade the cultural issue was also incorporated
into the political agenda. For almost two decades immigration had been
seen as a social
problem having knock-on effects in the sphere of economy and production,
at first, and the receiving governments placed the matter of the immigrants’ cultural
contribution further down on their list of priorities.
Nowadays though, unlike the last decade, the issue of “culture” plays
a leading role. According to public opinion there seem to be two factors
which hinder the integration of immigrants into society: religion and
culture (Moreras,
J: 2002). Political plans directed towards the management and control
of internal diversity have given rise to the creation of multicultural
policies
in some European
countries. Yet in Spain, multicultural action has remained limited
to the field of education and, more precisely, to the modification
of school curricula.
The aspect of immigrants’ culture and religion has focused, in both public
and political debate, on the case of the Moroccan community. It is possible to
point out that this may be due to two factors: Firstly, the idea that Muslims
and, by extension, Moroccans – according to discourse analysis, these people
are considered as one and the same – do not easily assimilate and are
reluctant to integrate into the Spanish community. The cultural clash in
the collective
Spanish mind is with the Maghribian and Islam. Secondly, cultural and religious
aspects have recently, yet with force, become a topic of discussion among
Moroccans and Moroccan organisations themselves. Both factors, in deep opposition,
have
had an emphatic impact on political actions.
|
4. The Moroccan Presence and Spanish Immigration Policy |
|
Immigration policies have a profound effect
on the size and make up of foreign communities residing in a particular
country. In Spain’s case, there is
recent evidence to suggest that the Spanish immigration policy - a policy
which is selective over to whom it permits entry – has, implicitly
and at times in an underhand manner, acquired a certain air of selectivity
over the constitution
of its immigration. Faced with immigration from Morocco, the chief source
of immigration during the nineties, the Spanish government developed
means in all
fields of migratory policies (control of flow, integration and nationality)
by which to favour the immigration and establishment of South American
immigrants
with some experts subsequently talking of a “preferable” immigration
(Izquierdo Escribano, A; López de Lera, D y Martínez Buján,
R: 2002).
Thus, the last few processes of the regularisation of foreigners indicate
that the rate of granting residents’ permits was much higher among
immigrants from South American countries. Such regulation of entrance and
conditioned settling
are legitimised due to the results of public-opinion polls – which
indicate the Spanish preference for South American immigrants – and
also to the argument of the cultural and linguistic proximity of those
from South
American
countries. The majority of immigrants in Spain being of South American
nationality could serve to weaken some of the recent demands from the Moroccan
community(2): the teaching of their mother
tongue, religious education, the application for community prayer centres,
the issue of cemeteries, etc.
This preference is even shown amongst those who provide services (Martín
Muñoz, G; García Castaño, J, López Sala,
A y Crespo, R: 2003) and the entrepreneurial classes, many of whom provide
contracts to
immigrants while still in their country of origin. The agreements on
employment contracts
recently signed in Spain, just as in private enterprise, explain the
gradual process of replacing Moroccan workers in agriculture with those
from Ecuador
and Poland, a process which has been the cause of so many problems in
Huelva and Murcia recently.
The Spanish norm with regard to nationality has also favoured the
naturalisation of South American citizens as opposed to Moroccans. The
preferential
status established for natives of ancient Spanish colonies or countries
which
have special links
with Spain was already recognised in the Spanish Constitution and developed
through different laws of nationality. Political declarations maintained
that the end
objective of this preferential treatment was to improve relations with
ex-colonies and pay the historical debt that Spain owed to countries
that for decades had
received Spanish emigrants and that still have a large Spanish community
at their core today. But these special arrangements can also be viewed
in a different
way: it favours political integration (a shorter period of residency)
of those native to countries closest to Spain in terms of culture,
those who,
for the
large part, speak the Spanish language. The consequence of this policy
on nationality, as the figures illustrate, is that a large proportion
of foreigners who acquire
Spanish citizenship come from South American countries, or in other
words, the rate of naturalisation is significantly high in comparative
terms
amongst South
American natives due to the fact that their minimum period of residency
is considerably reduced with regard to the requirements of the general
regime.
|
Notes |
|
(1) The final figure has been modified according
to the information from the two latest regularisations: 248,000 applications
for the regularisation of the year 2000 and a total of 348,000 applications
for residential documentation in 2001.
(2) A type of demand strongly linked to the emergence of second generation
immigrants of Moroccan descent.
|
References
|
|
* Aragón Bombín, R y Chozas Pedrero, J (1993):
La regularización
de inmigrantes durante 1991-1992. Ministerio de Trabajo y Seguridad
Social. Colección Informes y Estudios. Madrid.
* Arango, J (1999): “ Becoming a country of Immigration at the
End of the Twentieth Century: The case of Spain” en King, E;
Lazaridis, G y Tsardanidis, C (edits): Eldorado or Fortress? Migration
in Southern
Europe. Macmillan Press. London.
* Cachón, L (2002): “La formación de la España
inmigrante: mercado y ciudadanía” en Revista Española
de Investigaciones Sociológicas, nš 97. Pág 95-126.
* Colectivo IOE (1994): Marroquins a Catalunya. Institut Catalá d’Estudis
Mediterranis. Barcelona
* Gregorio, C (1998): Migración femenina. Su impacto en las
relaciones de género. Narcea. Madrid.
* Izquierdo Escribano, A (1997): “La población extranjera
en España” en Puyol, R (edit), Dinámica de la población
en España. Cambios demográficos en el último cuarto
de siglo. Síntesis. Madrid. Pag 217-264.
* Izquierdo Escribano, A; López de Lera, D y Martínez
Buján,
R (2002): “Los preferidos del siglo XXI: La inmigración
latinoamericana en España” en García Castaño,
F.J y Muriel López,
C (edits), La Inmigración en España: Contextos y Alternativas.
Granada.
* Kofman, E (1999): “Female Birds of Passage a Decade Later:
Gender and Immigration in the European Union” en International
Migration Review, vol 33, nš 2. Pág 269-299.
* Martín Muñoz, G; Castaño, F.J, López
Sala, A y Crespo, R (2003): Marroquíes en España: estudio
sobre su integración. Fundación Repsol YPF (forthcoming)
* Moreras, J (2002): “Lógicas divergentes, configuración
comunitaria e integración social de los colectivos musulmanes
en Cataluña” en de Lucas, J y Torres, F (edits): Inmigrantes: ¿cómo
los tenemos?. Talasa. Madrid. Pág 196-217.
* Morokvasic, M (1984): “Birds of Passage are also woman” en
International Migration Review, vol 18, nš 4 y Brettel, C y Simon,
R (1986): International Migration. The Female Experience. Rowman y
Allanheld. Nueva
Jersey
* Morokvasic, M (1988): “Cash in Hand for the first time: the
case of Yugoslav Migrant Women in Western Europe” en Stahl, C
(edit), International Migration Today: Emerging Issues. Univesity of
Western
Australia.
* Oso, L (1998): La migración hacia España de mujeres
jefas de hogar. Instituto de la Mujer. Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos
Sociales.
* Palazón Ferrando, S (1995): Los españoles en América
Latina (1850-1990). Centro de Estudios de América Latina. Madrid.
Sánchez Albornoz, N (1988): Españoles hacia América:
la emigración en masa, 1880-1930. Alianza. Madrid.
* Sánchez Alonso, B (1995): Las causas de la emigración
española:
1880-1930. Alianza. Madrid.
* Solanes, A (2002): “Inmigración y Extranjería
en Italia” en
Claves de la Razón Práctica nš 124. Pág 58-64.
* Valles, M; Cea M.A E Izquierdo Escribano, A (1999): Las encuestas
sobre inmigración en Europa y en España. Colección
del Observatorio Permanente de la Inmigración. Ministerio de
Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales. Madrid.
* Withol de Wenden, C (2000): ¿Hay que abrir las fronteras?
Biblioteca del ciudadano. Bellaterra. Barcelona.
Les annexes de cette intervention sont lisibles en téléchargeant les
fichiers pdf:
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
