Despite this uninterrupted and millenary movement of people from one place to another, and despite advances in the rights and protection, migrants still face numerous obstacles in finding work due to to their migrant status, the lack of a close safety net and the persistence of racist attitudes and discrimination in society, either directly or indirectly.
Migration is an action inherent to the human being. For as long as anyone can remember, people have always looked for a place to meet their basic needs, and Spain, like many other countries, has experienced a constant flow of migrants in search of a better life and job opportunities by people from all over the world, especially from Africa.
Currently, the foreign-born population represents around 6.7 million people in Spain, that is, approximately 14.3% of the total population, and the vast majority of people in this group, almost 80%, are of working age. These figures indicate something very clear: the people who come to Spain do it to work. However, having put their life at risk, having working age, being able and willing to do so does not guarantee them access to a job since migrants encounter other difficulties. Their employment situation is characterized by additional difficulty they face when trying to enter the labor market. Often they encounter barriers such as recognition of their qualifications and professional experience, lack of language proficiency or lack of connections and contacts in the country.
These barriers can become insurmountable obstacles that hinder labor insertion and limit their possibilities of personal and professional development, prolonging their adaptation process, which is already complicated, in the country they have chosen to live. The figures speak for themselves: while only 17% of the active population are foreigners, their unemployment rate is much higher than that of those born in Spain: 1 out of every 4 unemployed in Spain is a migrant.
The disparity between unemployment rates clearly reflects the limited labor integration of the foreign population. It should also be noted that the lack of studies is not only the barrier that migrants must overcome, since official data reflect, even when we focus on workers with the same level of education, the presence of foreigners tends to be more prominent in jobs with lower job qualifications, which may indicate a widespread problem of overqualification among them. [1]
One of the aspects that is least taken into account when evaluating effort and the difficulty that migrants face when they arrive in a new place is the lack of a close safety net, that group of people, whether family or friends who are available to help. Migrants often leave their families and friends behind in search of a better life. This lack of emotional and social support can generate feelings of loneliness and isolation, hindering their general well-being. The lack of this network means that if you need support, the situation of vulnerability worsens.
Last but not least is the persistence of racism and discrimination in Spanish society. The lack of an Anti-racist law that pursues these attitudes makes the efforts to promote equality insufficient, and that many migrants continue to be victims of prejudice and negative stereotypes that jeopardize their job opportunities and perpetuate their situation of maladjustment in the society.
It is urgent and fundamental that the society in Spain becomes aware of these difficulties, work together to overcome them, and regulate and promote policies inclusive of equal opportunities for all people, regardless of their origin or immigration status, achieving fairness for everyone. Only in this way can we build a future in which migration is seen as an opportunity and not as an obstacle. Because it is not enough to not be racist, but one must be anti-racist, and as Bob Marley said: “Wars will continue to exist as long as the color of the skin is more important than that of the eyes”.
[1] https://www.inclusion.gob.es/oberaxe/ficheros/documentos/Integraciondelapoblacion.pdf
