Posts Tagged ‘Spain’
Spain Says it Won’t Abide by Harsh EU Immigration Directive
10:49 am By Maegan La Mala · Dominican Republic| Immigration| Politics| Spain · Comments Off
8 Aug 2008The Vice President of Spain, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega cleared up any possible doubt about her country’s stance on Europe’s harsh new immigration directive — “The Return Directive” — which would criminalize immigrants and allow them to be held up to 18 months before deportation. Speaking at a roundtable on immigration in the Dominican Republic — and flanked by her party’s Secretary of Integration, a Dominican immigrant and naturalized Spanish citizen, Bernarda Jiménez — De la Vega made things perfectly clear:
De La Vega said “[The Directive] has not been applied and will never be applied,” and asked that Latinos looking to immigrate to Spain “remain calm”, stating that Spain’s national laws provide for a maximum of 40 days detention if immigrants are picked up by authorities. In a serious tone, De La Vega ended her statement by saying “Is that clear?” She also urged potential immigrants not to worry about the economic slowdown which has left many in the construction business — a key sector for immigrants — jobless because Spain is poised to “continue growing”, insinuating that foreign labor will still be in demand.
Wow, sounds exactly like when our politicians talk about immigration, right?
Via / Público
Latino Immigrants to Europe Use Plastic Surgery to Fit In
7:51 am By Maegan La Mala · Bizarro| Latin America| Spain| race| society · 3 Comments
25 Jul 2008
File under self-hatred a lo Europeo. Plastic surgeons in Spain are reporting a barrage of requests from Central American and South American immigrants wanting to undergo plastic surgery to make themselves look “more European”. According to doctors around 2500 immigrants submit themselves to procedures such as rhinoplasty (nose jobs) and other types of surgery to modify their faces.
“What they want is for people not to recognize them as foreigners and go unnoticed,” explains plastic surgeon José María Palacín.
The surgery is said to cost around 5000 euros (around $7800) and 20 Minutos reports that the majority of immigrants that request the surgery are Ecuadorian and Colombians living in Madrid.
This is of course a terrible thing, but it also makes me stop and think: what is happening in Madrid that makes immigrants feel the need to go to these lengths to “go unnoticed”?
Via / 20 Minutos
Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain Claims Life
10:15 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Spain| Sports · Comments Off
7 Jul 2008I don’t get the Running of the Bulls, an extreme annual sport in Pamplona, Spain that involves thousands running away from charging bulls let loose on the street. Maybe it’s revenge for all those bulls killed in bullfights (which I don’t get either). Actually it’s partially a religious feast, celebrating San Fermin
This year’s running of the bulls has already claimed one life, but not from a bull. The man apparently fell from an ancient wall that circles the historic center of the northeastern town. Was he drunk? Was he pushed? The body, found with an Irish issued bank card, had been laying dead for hours before it was found.
Spain Beats Germany, Wins Eurocup
5:34 pm By Maegan La Mala · Germany| Spain| Sports| World · 1 Comment
29 Jun 2008What no one thought was possible has happened. Spain is the European champion for fútbol, defeating Germany 1-0 in a stressful but beautiful match. Here’s the goal that won the match, landed in the first half of the game
Most people didn’t believe that Spain would even make it to the quarter finals, much less defeat a team as strong as Germany. The last time Spain won the Eurocup was 44 years ago, and after the game President Zapatero commented that he is the first Spanish president to see a Eurocup win in a democratic Spain.
Via / YouTube
Nearly 2 Million Latinos Living in Spain
8:39 am By Maegan La Mala · Immigration| Latin America| Spain| World · Comments Off
25 Jun 2008
For hundreds of thousands of Latin American immigrants that leave their home countries each year — and in spite of what Lou Dobbs might have you believe — the first choice in destination isn’t the United States but Spain. A recently released report estimates that 1.8 million people of Latin American origin now live in Spain, and the 5 largest communities are Ecuadorans, Colombians, Argentines, Bolivians and Peruvians.
Immigration to Spain is said to be having a positive impact on the countries of origin, which are receiving 15% of immigrants’ salaries in the form of “remesas” sent to family back home.
Up until now, the acceptance of immigrants into the Spanish system has been pretty open. But earlier this month, as a result of a harsh economic crisis in Spain, the government announced incentives for unemployed immigrants to return to their countries of origin.
Via / El Universal
Spaniards Hate Chavez More than Bush?
12:05 pm By Maegan La Mala · Latin America| Politics| Spain| Venezuela| World · Comments Off
2 Jun 2008
Wow, that’s saying a lot, because the Spanish hate them some Dubya. According to a recent poll:
Spaniards dislike Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez most among world leaders, including U.S. President George W. Bush, a poll indicated.The survey of 2,500 Spaniards in 2007 found the leftist Chavez ranks first among major world leaders the Spanish do not care for, ahead of the U.S. president and Cuba’s former leader Fidel Castro.
Bush was the most disliked world leader among Spaniards in the 2006 version of the poll, El Pais reported Friday.
I wonder how those two feel about being in the same category…
Who holds the Spanish people’s heart in their hands? Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ranks as one of the most admired leaders for Spaniards.
Via / UPI
Berlusconi’s Immigration Laws: Could it Happen Here?
1:24 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Controversia| Immigration| World| society · 3 Comments
22 May 2008
Europe is buzzing with praise and criticism for Italian president Silvio Berlusconi’s [pictured] tough (read xenophobic) approach to immigration legislation.
According to the president’s new stance, being an undocumented immigrant in Italy will become a crime, punishable by up to 18 months in a detention center. In addition, local authorities will have the right to detain and order the expulsion of undocumented immigrants. Families petitioning the Italian government for visas based on reunification will have to submit to DNA testing. Renting an apartment to an undocumented immigrant will also become a crime, punishable by up to 4 years in prison, plus a fine of 50,000 euros. Oh, and they’ll confiscate the apartment.
That’s not all. If you are undocumented and you commit a crime, your sentence will be increased by 1/3 more than if you are Italian. That means if you are sentenced to 3 years in prison, tack on another if you are undocumented.
In response to these propositions — now approved by the Italian government — a few hundred protesters gathered in Napoles, where Berlusconi was at an event, shouting “No racism, no intolerance, equality!”, reports Spain’s El País.
Reading this got me thinking: could this happen in the U.S.? There certainly are bills which are moving our immigration legislation in this direction, but is a complete immigration overhaul of this magnitude possible in the U.S.? That’s a pretty scary thought.
Smells Like…Basura
9:39 am By Maegan La Mala · Bizarro| Funny| Music| Spain · 5 Comments
21 May 2008Think American Idol is bad? Check out the Spanish equivalent. Poor Kurt Cobain is spinning in his grave.
Northern Spain Starts Day Explosively
7:27 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Politics| Spain · Comments Off
14 May 2008
A bomb in Legutiano, Basque country, in Northern Spain, exploded this morning at a police barracks, killing one person, wounding two, and leaving two people trapped in the rubble of what is left.
Not surprisingly, the Spanish government is looking at ETA, Euskadi ta Askatasuna, also known as the Basque Homeland and Freedom movement in Basque, a Basque separatist organization, as responsible for the bombing.
Via / Al Jazeera
Spanish President Warns Chavez to Behave
7:01 am By Maegan La Mala · Controversia| Latin America| Politics| Spain| Venezuela| World · 1 Comment
13 May 2008
Spanish president Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has warned Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez against disrespecting his government during the Latin American-European Summit to be held in Lima this week:
…he reiterated to Hugo Chavez that he must respect Spanish institutions, after he once again criticized the Spanish king.
On his weekly radio address, Aló Presidente, Hugo Chávez said that the Spanish king “thinks he’s superior” to Latin Americans but that “when the King goes to the bathroom, he lets out the same thing the rest of us do.” Quite the colorful illustration.
President Zapatero says that if Chavez does go to the Summit this week, “it’s quite probable that I will have a talk with him”. Zapatero is apparently attempting to avoid another embarrassing incident like this one.
Perhaps the German government should be more concerned. Apparently Chavez has been comparing president Angela Merkel to Hitler and plans to confront her at the Summit.
Via / Canarias 7 and El Universal
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- Pedro Julio Serrano on the Murder of Lopez Mercado
- Bay Area Community Members to Hold Vigil and Release Statement about Murders in Maryland and Puerto Rico
- Transgender Day of Remembrance and Latin@s
- Dear Troll(s):
- Puerto Rican, Latino Clergy, Theology Professors, Community Members To Condemn Brutal Hate Killing of Gay Puerto Rican Man
- Vigils for Justice y en Memoria de Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Russell Athletic rehires fired union organizers
- When Things Go Wrong…Terribly Wrong.
- Official VivirLatino Statement on Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN
- Sexual Violence Against Women in Immigrant Detention
