immigration

In the last months, the Catalan branch of the Conservative People’s Party (PPC) raised controversy in breaking a taboo in Catalan-level politics: using immigration as a political tool. Many actions were performed earlier linking immigration with insecurity. such as spreading leaflets. Yesterday a videogame where the PPC's leader was shooting at illegal immigrants was put online and, after the complains, shut down. Last week, the PPC’s President and candidate, Alícia Sánchez-Camacho proposed an “integration contract” for immigrants that, if not respected, will enable public powers to expel immigrants. The rest of the parties accused the PPC of being xenophobic and populist.

The drop is primarily in the male immigrant population, while the female population experienced a slight increase.

Guissona, in the centre of Catalonia, has a large immigrant population, which now represents 50.08% of the village’s population. The reason is that Guissona hosts the largest company in the province, the Cooperativa Agropecuària de Guissona (CAG), a meat processing business. 90% of Guissona’s population is employed.

Catalonia is the autonomous community with the highest number of foreigners receiving social security benefits. The data shows a 1.23% decrease compared to September of last year.

The Lleida City Hall approved the controversial ordinance that prohibits the use of headwear in municipal buildings, including the burqa or niqab, as well as helmets or other clothing fully covering the face. Islamic local groups are at odds as to whether or not the ban is justified. The ban does not apply to the street, private spaces or buildings owned by other public instituitions.

The website is part of an integral plan agreed on between the Roma community’s representatives and the Catalan Government. The museum opens in a moment of debate in France about the Roma people’s integration, which has been brought to Catalonia by the Catalan branch of the Conservative People’s Party (PPC)

The Welfare Project of the La Caixa’s Foundation aims to foster social cohesion in neighbourhoods with a high concentration of immigrants in Barcelona, Tortosa and Salt. The project has specified 17 zones throughout Spain that it will work with to develop community intervention models for the next 3 years.

Muslims in Badalona celebrate Ramadan in the old fire station, offered by the City Hall to be used during the entire month. The decision has however carried some controversy by conservative parties.

The Programme for Maternity Health’s birth registry has published data that shows that 30% of newborns in Catalonia have a mother with a foreign nationality. Also, 52% of teen births between 14 and 17 years old were of mothers from a foreign nationality.

Montserrat Coll, the director of Religious Affairs in Catalonia, has spoken out against the new law to ban full-face veils in municipal buildings. She stresses that mediation and dialogue are the best way out of the debate.

The UK conservative newspaper has issued an article judging the ban Barcelona's Town Hall has issued on full-face veils in municipal buildings as a contradiction to the city's liberal image. According to 'The Times', the ban on the burqa and the niqab doe