The Pakistani community in Spain: social and cultural challenges

Abstract

This article uses the example of the Pakistani community to explore the phenomenon of multiculturalism in Spain. Although Muslims of Maghrebi origin constitute the most numerous immigrant group on the Iberian Peninsula, the Pakistanis are special in that they represent an exceptionally distinctive and hermetic community. The article analyses social, economic and cultural determinants of this community’s situation in Spain. The Raval immigrant neighbourhood in Barcelona exemplifies the mechanisms under study. The article focuses on determinants of Pakistani immigrants’ situation as well as the challenges that arise against the backdrop of interaction between this community and the host society. The author also reflects on the issue of the ethnocultural distinctiveness of this group in normative and institutional terms, and analyses the consequences of this distinctiveness.