New wave of Islamophobia in Catalonia: Far-right Catalan Alliance surges ahead of Spanish election
Theo Al Jazeera English (Graham Keeley)
Anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment has overtaken the independence drive as Catalonia's dominant political force, with the far-right Catalan Alliance polling as the region's likely second-largest party by 2028. Muslim residents describe growing fear and racism, which they trace to the 2017 Barcelona attack. Spain heads to a snap general election in November as support rises for the conservative People's Party and far-right Vox.
Barcelona, Spain – Nearly a decade after the Catalan independence movement's defeat, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment has replaced the drive for secession as the dominant political force in this wealthy region of Spain. The rise of the new far-right party Aliança Catalana (Catalan Alliance – AC) is raising alarm among the Muslim community, which fears a backlash in a country long seen as welcoming to immigrants.
According to polls, AC – which wants to tighten immigration and regards Islam as a threat to society – is on track to become Catalonia's second-largest political force after the Socialists in the next regional election in 2028. The party has tapped into the anti-immigration wave sweeping Europe, where far-right parties have won in Germany, Italy and France.
"This took us all by surprise," Soukayna El Abdi, president of the Moroccan Youth organization in Ripoll, said of the party's growth. "Most people come here to integrate, to work and to live alongside others. The rise of the Catalan Alliance is about baseless hatred. They spread many things about our community that are not true."
Spain will hold a snap general election in November. Polls show growing support for the conservative People's Party and the far-right Vox. The rise of the Catalan Alliance reflects a rightward shift in the eurozone's fourth-largest economy.
The party supports independence and has drawn support from other separatist parties such as Together for Catalonia and the Catalan Republican Left, which backed the failed 2017 bid to break away from Spain.
"All my friends support the Catalan Alliance. There are too many immigrants now and Islam is a threat," Eduard Lopez, a businessman from Molins de Rei near Barcelona, told Al Jazeera. "The other independence parties are a thing of the past. They failed to deliver what they promised."
According to Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE), one-fifth of the country's nearly 50 million people were born abroad. Colombians, Venezuelans and Moroccans are the three largest groups by nationality.
The Catalan Alliance originated in Ripoll, a small town near the French border. It was where members of a militant cell planned the 2017 Barcelona attack that killed 16 people and was claimed by ISIL.
‘No significant change’
Silvia Orriols, leader of the Catalan Alliance, is also the town's mayor. After the 2017 attack, she became stridently anti-Muslim.
"Without significant change, Catalonia's prospects are bleak," Orriols told Al Jazeera. "The decline in the use of our language, the alienation of neighborhoods, the rise in insecurity and crime, the fraudulent use of public services, mass and invasive immigration, the population growth of supporters of Islamic law, the financial exploitation we suffer at Spain's hands, threatening the welfare state and the freedoms we have won so far."
She said her party is for "those who have not surrendered to globalization and savagery".
According to the Islamic Commission of Spain, 2.4 million Muslims live in Spain, with the largest community in Catalonia.
El Abdi, of the Moroccan Youth organization in Ripoll, said: "I am very afraid. I worry about my parents and my two brothers who still live there. This racism affects all Muslims. It began after the 2017 Barcelona attack."
Ironically, she said, Orriols's daughters were once friends with her siblings, but that changed after the Catalan Alliance leader entered politics.
The party currently holds just two seats in the Catalan parliament, but polls predict it will compete with the Socialists to run the region that accounts for 20 percent of Spain's economy. A poll for El Mundo published in September showed the Catalan Alliance would win 25-28 seats with 16.7 percent of the vote if an election were held. The Socialists would be the largest party but lose 10 seats, falling to 23.3 percent support and 19-22 seats. All other separatist parties would lose ground.
Juan Ignacio Castien Maestro, an expert on Islamic affairs at Complutense University in Madrid, said anti-Muslim sentiment is rising in Spain. "People are focusing on Islamophobia, which has existed for centuries but has increased in Spain in recent years. Muslim immigrants are seen as the symbol of many ills such as the housing crisis, unemployment and other problems. It exploits a sense of insecurity," he told Al Jazeera. "Catalonia is a special case in that some Catalan [nationalist] parties were already anti-Muslim."
Jose Pablo Martínez, a migration expert at the Real Elcano Institute, a Madrid-based think tank, said Spain's left-wing government, unlike many other European countries, is pursuing a more immigrant-friendly policy. However, "some segments of the population see immigrants as competitors for jobs and housing," he said.
