Nationalism in Europe: More Than Xenophobia?
In the past decade, immigration from Asia, Africa, and more recently Eurasia (since the outbreak of Russian-Ukraine war) to Europe has grown significantly. An example of this exponential growth is Europe only receiving approximately 1,750 migrants in 2013, and then receiving approximately 3,750 migrants in 2022, which is an 114% increase (European Commission). This increase in immigration alongside other factors has led to “native” born Europeans feeling disenfranchised by political parties that allow mass immigration and refugee asylum in their states. These feelings of disenfranchisement have culminated over the years into developments such as the growth of anti-immigrant populist parties and movements [Populism: the political approach of juxtaposing common citizens and the traditional political establishment to gain support], immigrant discrimination, and even riots. As of writing this article, anti-immigrant protests and riots have been taking place in the UK for the past two weeks, resulting in the arrests of around a thousand people (Reuters).
Violent acts such as ones happening in the UK are not the only thing directly harming immigrants residing in Europe, but so are policies. For example, in 2023 Denmark passed a law through its parliament which revoked residency for Syrian asylum seekers. Denmark showcases that the anti-immigration stance in Europe is not a right nor left issue, as Denmark is majority left, with the Social Democratic party leading its parliament, and is progressive [Progressive: seeking to advance the human condition with social reform; typically associated with left-leaning liberalism] in most other areas (Al Jazeera). A majority alt-right state parliament that mirrors Denmark’s sentiments towards immigration is Italy. These two countries do not have much in common in terms of cultural norms nor values, yet have adopted the same legislation towards immigration, by rejecting asylum seekers in need of refuge (Human Rights Watch). Another factor that Denmark and Italy have in common, alongside their other European counterparts is popularly citing the preservation of national identity [National identity: a sense of a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language] as the reason to be against mass immigration.
Despite the anti-immigration stances taken by European states seemingly being xenophobic [Xenophobia: dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries] on the surface, there lies the question if there is something more than just xenophobia causing the feeling of the loss of national identity in some Europeans. A unique state in this discussion in my opinion is Spain. Spain’s history and diverse cultural makeup makes it an outlier in the discussion of European nationalism [Nationalism: identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations].
In terms of its modern history (20th century) Spain has developed in isolation compared to other European states. During World War II nationalist fascism [Fascism: a political system based on a very powerful leader, state control, and being extremely proud of country and race, and in which political opposition is not allowed] dominated in the European axis states [Axis Powers: an alliance of countries that existed before and during World War II, including Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary] of Germany and Italy. Despite not being an axis state , Spain had also adopted this style of nationalist fascism. Spain did not play a large role in the war as it was occupied in its own internal turmoil due to continuous fights and persecution of regions that wanted independence, recently ending a bloody civil war, and installing its infamous dictator, Francisco Franco. After the war, fascism had fell in Italy and Germany due to being obvious enemies to the allied states [Allied Powers: term for the co-belligerents who fought against the Central and Axis Powers in World War I and World War II respectively] and internal dissent against their leaders. Spanish fascism however would continue until the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, thirty years after its counterparts. After fascism ended in Spain, the state quickly opened itself back to the world, joining the EU in 1986 and becoming one of the most visited countries in the world (World Population Reviews). Spain has also been notoriously open to immigration, as it is the EU Member State with one of the highest level of immigration per capita (Gonzalez-Enriquez).
This friendliness towards immigrants has shifted over the years alongside its European counterparts, but it does not seem to be a main cause in the nationalism that is also rising in Spain. Even though populist parties such as VOX have anti-immigration stances, it does not appear to be the main focus to the idea of the dismantling of the Spanish identity. In the eyes of Spaniards, the dismantlement of Spanish identity seems to be a culprit from the past, the separatist movements [Separatism: the advocacy or practice of separation of a certain group of people from a larger body on the basis of ethnicity, religion, or gender], particularly in Catalonia and Basque Country. Despite its growing anti-immigration rhetoric, VOX has still maintained its focus on the Catalan independence movements as being the enemy of Spanish identity (Gonzalez- Enriquez).
For centuries what it means to be Spanish has been contested by the distinct identities of Catalonians and Basque people, alongside other marginalized groups in Spain. Despite being native born Spaniards, Catalonians and Basque people have been treated as other, as they do have a visibly different culture compared to the rest of Spain, with their own unique languages and customs. They are seen as foreign and strange by some, and the resistance to abandon their culture has led to xenophobia (Sutton). Despite this xenophobia, Spain wants to maintain these regions as a part of the state. The persecution and othering of Catalonians and Basque peoples in a way negates the idea that having a different culture is what leads to anti-immigration sentiments and ethnic nationalism, as they are wanted by the Spanish state. There are no concrete answers yet of what is leading to anti-immigrant and loss of national identity sentiments in Europe, but Spain can be an insight as to why this is occurring.
As the world changes and becomes more interconnected, Europe is having an identity crisis, which will continue to grow more chaotic unless there is digging into the root cause of particular sentiments and values. The causes will be unique state by state, but starting in one state can open investigations in others.
