Amic o enemic? Immigration and the Catalan Struggle for Independence

Abstract

Immigration has extended to regions with sub-state nationalist movements, such as Scotland, Friesland, the Basque Country and, as is the focus of this research, Catalonia. In a context of political upheaval in the region, this article aims to examine the impact of the successive waves of immigration to Catalonia on the modern independence movement. The respective status of the immigrant population in Catalonia is a major issue about which there is a divergence of opinion. This study approaches attitudes toward immigrants through the threat-benefit framework, which perceives immigrants as both threatening and beneficial for the receiving society. The data, gathered from six focus groups and ten narrative interviews, reveal a complexity of attitudes on the impact of immigration on the secessionist movement. Two themes emerge in the informants' discussion: 'Immigration: Rising Benefit' and '(New) Immigration: (New) Challenge'. The comments of the respondents indicate that, against the backdrop of the independence process in the territory, there exists a range of views on the impact of the various waves of migration to Catalonia. This study suggests that a fuller understanding of the situation in the territory may be facilitated by qualitative approaches.

Is there an ethnicity bias in Catalan secessionism? Discourses and political actions

“…The same open attitude towards immigration exists in the intermediate cadres of the pro‐independence parties and organisations. This attitude of acceptance of immigration is combined with an interest in daring newcomers to become secessionist (Byrne, 2020). (3) The third and last perspective comes from the opinion of the voters.…”

“…( organisations. This attitude of acceptance of immigration is combined with an interest in daring newcomers to become secessionist (Byrne, 2020).…”

Rescuing national unity with imagination: The case of Tabarnia

“…As for other stateless nations, the Catalan government has taken great care of the everyday construction of nationalism (Billig, 1995; Crameri, 2000), building national identity on a daily basis through the use of symbols, including flags, national anthems, languages, national ceremonies and stamps. This process has not found much opposition in the Catalan society, even though few scholars warned about the unresolved ethno‐linguistic cleavage, due to the immigration from other Spanish regions (Byrne, 2020; Miley, 2007), and the class division between middle‐upper class Catalans and low‐middle class immigrants (Barrio & Rodríguez‐Teruel, 2017).…”