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https://theconversation.com/how-the-ceuta-border-crossing-incident-immediately-played-into-the-hands-of-spains-far-right-288859>
"It is estimated that more than 50,000 migrants entered the small Spanish
enclave of Ceuta in the course of a single day after the border effectively
collapsed. Ceuta, an autonomous city, sits on Morocco’s northern coast. The
Spanish government has said almost all of the migrants have since returned to
Morocco, and at least 57 have died.
Faced with doubts as to how and why this was able to happen, the public was
left with only footage and photographs: people swimming and climbing onto
Ceuta’s Tarajal beach, tens of thousands in a single day and night, scores
dead.
With no facts or explanations to back them up, scenes like these land in the
imagination first. And the imagination is where a country’s attitude to
migration is built.
The Ceuta border crossing undermines one of Spain’s more flattering ideas about
itself. After the long years of fascist dictatorship the country has spent
recent years recasting itself as a place that embraces migration and diversity
while much of Europe talks about walls and defence.
This is a story Spain tells with real conviction – a nation at the crossroads
of Europe and Africa, shaped by centuries of cultural mixing. And it often puts
these ideals into action – only six months ago, it opened a route to legal
residence for hundreds of thousands of immigrants already living and working in
the country.
But national self-image and public opinion are a cultural achievement more than
a legal one. They run on emotions, which makes them far more delicate – and far
more vulnerable to misinformation and exploitation – than any law."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
