Abstract:

In the early 2010s, Portugal and Spain were considered exceptions within the European context due to the absence of far-right parties with parliamentary representation. Since then, both countries have witnessed a considerable increase in the parliamentary presence of these parties. Against this backdrop of the recent intensification of the politicisation of immigration, the paper presented at this session compares Portuguese and Spanish citizens’ attitudes towards immigrants and ethnic minority communities, drawing on two studies. While large-scale immigration to both countries is a relatively recent social phenomenon (with the immigrant population exceeding seven million in Spain and 1.5 million in Portugal), Roma communities have been present on the Iberian Peninsula for centuries. Attitudes towards minority populations more broadly have received insufficient scholarly attention in these countries. In this paper, the authors analyse and compare levels of public hostility towards immigrants and Roma ethnic minorities in both countries. They also assess the potential relationship between these attitudes, the electoral consolidation of far-right parties, and the spread of racist attitudes and ethno-racial prejudice towards both national and foreign citizens belonging to minority groups.

Biographical notes: 

João Carvalho is an Integrated Researcher at CIES-Iscte and the author of numerous publications on immigration policy and the far right. His research has explored, among other topics, the impact of the media on public attitudes towards immigration, immigrants’ access to citizenship in Portugal and Spain, and the politicisation of immigration in Portugal.