Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The crisis leads to tension

At a time of crisis, it is only natural that people want to find someone to pin the blame on.  In England it seems to be the Poles, here it is the Moroccans. When times were good and there was plenty of work, the immigrant workers took on jobs that the locals wouldn't. In the present situation, where jobs are scarce, the locals want the immigrants out.

An indication of this racial conflict can be seen  in the municipality of Vila Joiosa, where threatening graffiti towards the Moroccans has appeared on walls - some of which was written in blood. This has graffiti has appeared  in the parts of the town where Cáritas distribute food every Tuesday to the needy.

Although Vila Joiosa has hundreds of citizens of different nationalities, the town has registered very few racial incidents. The Local Police say that  now they are having to respond to more and more threats to the immigrants. There have been some confrontations in the street, which have forced them to close the Cáritas  food distribution. In fact, there have been occasions when the Guardia Civil were called  to calm the spirits down.

A few months ago Cáritas were helping 100 families, now there are 15o who need aid. Out of the 4,000 people who are unemployed in the town, most are foreign workers from the construction industry.

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