The Media's Contribution towards the Negative Image of Latin Americans in Spanish Society

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LITERATURE REVIEW1

The emigration of Latin Americans to Spain during 1995 - 20081

Motives for relocation2

Economic Causes3

Political Causes4

Social Causes5

The Spanish government's reaction6

METHODOLOGY9

Introduction9

Theoretical Framework11

Secondary Research12

Case Study Approach13

Ethical Considerations15

Reliability and Validity16

REFERENCES19

LITERATURE REVIEW

The emigration of Latin Americans to Spain during 1995 - 2008

Latin American migrants seemingly fit more easily into Spanish society, as they broadly share common cultural characteristics such as language and religious affiliation. The Spanish state also allows for easier access to Spanish citizenship for residents of Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America, granting double-citizenship privileges to those migrants who successfully navigate the citizenship acquisition process in Spain (Joppke, 2008, 533). Yet despite many of the cultural similarities between Spain and its former colonies, it is important not to assume that migrants easily negotiate the migration process or feel a particular kinship toward Spain. The process of attaining citizenship is also difficult to navigate, and for many migrants is never realized. Thus it is unclear how this new, and at 37% of the foreign-born population (Joppke, 2008, 533), group of migrants relate to their new home country.

Although the process of migration has never been as unidirectional as often portrayed in popular media and family accounts, recent advances in communication technology and transportation have allowed migrants unprecedented access to loved ones and events occurring in their home countries. Engagement with the sending country often takes many forms: economic engagement in the form of remittances and monetary gifts sent home, social engagement in the form of family and kin relationships, and political engagement in the form of political involvement with political parties and organizations in their home countries. As these processes of engagement transcend political borders and occur in multiple sites, they can be referred to as transnational practices.

Motives for relocation

Spain illustrates the principle that historical patterns, such as European colonialism of the New World, linking different regions of the globe continue to be relevant (Joppke, 2008, 534). As a European power and colonial powerhouse during the 15th and 16th centuries, Spain's imprint on the language and cultural traditions of states in the Americas is undeniable. Yet the modern history of the country is one characterized by relative poverty and emigration.

Spain was one of the largest contributors to the waves of European migrants who left the continent for the United States and Latin America in the late-19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the push-and-pull factors which characterized immigration in the United States, including proactive immigration policies, the availability of labor opportunities and land, and poverty and demographic growth in Europe, were also active in the case of Spaniards migrating to Mexico, Cuba, and Argentina (Joppke, 2008, 534).

Following the death of dictator Juan Francisco Franco, Spain underwent a rapid economic and political transition. King Juan Carlos instituted a constitutional monarchy characterized by a consensus, parliamentary electoral system (Joppke, 2008, 534). Political liberalization paired with economic liberalization, as Spain's opening to foreign investment and the subsequent development of the tourism ...