According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), around 1.5 million Latin Americans live in Spain, which represents almost 30% of the total population of foreigners in that country. However, and despite the common history between these two latitudes, they are one of the groups that suffers the most discrimination.
In recent months, several cases of xenophobia have gone viral, such as that of the Venezuelan journalist Adriana González, who was subjected to verbal and physical aggression by two women in Alicante; or the tragic suicide of two Argentinean twins in Barcelona due to the bullying they suffered at school because of their accent.
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And, contrary to what one might think, these are not isolated cases. According to the SOS Racismo Federation, racist discrimination in Spain has increased exponentially in recent years, and its main victims are usually people of color.
THE INCREASE OF DISCRIMINATION IN SPAIN
According to SOS Racismo, the 347 complaints of racism registered in 2017 rose to 523 in 2021. In addition to Latin Americans, other affected groups include Roma, Afro-descendants, Asians, and North Africans.
Among the complaints registered by this body, the majority (185) were related to institutional racism, followed by the denial of access to benefits and private services, while the rest were related to discrimination in the workplace and assaults.
Likewise, according to data from the Council for the Elimination of Racial or Ethnic Discrimination (CEDRE), racism has also increased in access to housing (31%), education (20%) and treatment by security forces and bodies of the State (19%). In the case of Latin Americans, there is great inequality in the workplace xxx video.
According to a study by the José Ortega y Gasset Foundation, although 80% of the children of Latin American immigrants feel “at home” in Spain, only 18.2% of them have a job with a higher qualification (administrators, managers or technicians). ) compared to 27.3% of the children of Spaniards.
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Likewise, harmful stereotypes regarding Latin Americans are one of the causes of this discrimination. Especially, Latina women who work in domestic services can be victims of abuse and harassment because they are perceived as “caring,” “helpful” and “up to anything.”
A WRONG BIAS
One of the main reasons racism is on the rise is due to negative portrayals in the media and entertainment, the approach of which can sometimes exacerbate beliefs that have nothing to do with reality. For example, ideas such as that immigrants abuse free health care or receive more aid than the Spaniards themselves.
On the other hand, surveys such as the 2017 Special Eurobarometer or the 2017 CIS Attitudes towards Immigration Survey revealed that many Spaniards (60% according to the latter) believed that the number of immigrants in the country was high or excessive. However, the reality is that, according to INE data, foreigners do not exceed 10% of the total national population.
Likewise, in order to put an end to experiences of discrimination, complaints are of great importance. Therefore, if you live an experience of racist or xenophobic discrimination, or a hate crime, you can go to make a formal complaint to the Ministry of Equality (900 20 30 41), as well as to the Civil Guard or the National Police.