Immigration in the Spanish nation

Ana Caballero Mengibar

doi:10.33956/tensoesmundiais.v11i20.501

Abstract

The literature suggests that Spain has never had a national identity but is rather an amalgam of regional identities. The accession to the European Union and the arrival of immigrants present new challenges to Spanish identity. Forging a national identity entails both building a solidarity based on ‘belongingness’ and excluding certain groups that might constitute a threat. These contemporary forms of exclusion aligned with immigration can be referred to as neo-racist.

Highlights

1 INTRODUCTION The endurance of Spanish peripheral regionalisms dating to the 1800s has intrigued scholars for centuries, raising the question of whether Spain has a national identity (Balfour and Quiroga, 2007; Beramendi, 1992; Linz, 1993; Muro and Quiroga, 2005: 25; Núñez, 1993; Núñez, 2001; Stapell, 2007). This contrasts with an abundance of scholarly literature on the topics of regional nationalisms, historical regionalisms such as the Basque, Catalan, and Galician
Academic emphasis on peripheral nationalism from 1975 to the 1990s is arguably to blame for this dearth of historiography on the national question (Stapell, 2007)
Competing discourses of difference and belongingness, produced in a particular historical period of time, must be commonly accepted as legitimate threats to the existence of an imagined primordial identity to successfully bind the nation to a perceived common fate

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The endurance of Spanish peripheral regionalisms dating to the 1800s has intrigued scholars for centuries, raising the question of whether Spain has a national identity (Balfour and Quiroga, 2007; Beramendi, 1992; Linz, 1993; Muro and Quiroga, 2005: 25; Núñez, 1993; Núñez, 2001; Stapell, 2007). Recent changes in Spanish immigration law and changes in perceptions among Spaniards about immigrants suggest otherwise This new reality raises yet more questions about the Spanish national identity. Competing discourses of difference and belongingness, produced in a particular historical period of time, must be commonly accepted as legitimate threats to the existence of an imagined primordial identity to successfully bind the nation to a perceived common fate. A Spanish national identity, multifaceted, can be identified

THEORY OF NATION BUILDING

OVERVIEW OF COMPETING DISCOURSES ON NATION BUILDING IN SPAIN

Findings

CONCLUSION