THE IMMIGRATION CONTRACT

Dear Sir IN the (hopefully) unlikely event of Mr Mariano Rajoy and the PP being elected to power, I wonder how far the proposed “immigration contract” would fall. Would, for example, all northern European immigrants also be made to ‘learn Spanish and respect Spanish customs'? Or, would, say, a wealthy, white, anti-bullfighting, non-Spanish speaking European living and, indeed, working exclusively within his or her own language and culture somehow not count as an immigrant and therefore not be required to ‘actively integrate themselves' into Spanish society? It is in many ways a rhetorical question as Rajoy's determination to ‘prevent deported immigrant delinquents returning to the EU' makes it clear who is being targeted by this piece of opportunistic electioneering. The cartoon in Saturday's ‘Ultima Hora' reinforces the hypocritical double standards which underpins this latest statement. The shameful demonstrations against Lewis Hamilton and the experiences of some black footballers visiting Spain should serve as a wake-up call to the dangers of racism. Despite a broad agreement that migrants to any country should learn the language, respect the culture and the laws, Zapatero and the PSOE are right to identify this as xenophobic and racist. However, were it ever to be implemented in full and across the board, and as others have pointed out, it might see the end of the ‘all-day English breakfast' mentality and Jason Moore's benighted campaign through his editorial columns to homogenise Majorca's distinctiveness into a bland Europeanisation and turn Palma into a Basingstoke shopping centre! Yours sincerely, Brian Roberts Palma