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Friday, October 27, 2006
The Channel Islands of the Atlantic
The British-dependent Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey - two separate self-governing countries that are NOT part of the United Kingdom - are, to put in simple terms, known to most as tax havens where you can set up non-resident companies, but not as places you can move to, unless you happen to be stinking rich.
This, unless I am seriously mistaken (and I know I'm not), is approximately the situation that many in the Canary Islands would like to see for these islands too: Further autonomy from Spain, further investment into the similar offshore tax haven of the Canary Special Zone (ZEC) and as few foreign residents as possible.
The Canary Islands are currently debating over the creation of a Ley de Residencia (Residence Law), proposed by the Coalición Canaria (CC) nationalists (currently in charge of the Canary Islands Government) and backed by the center-right Popular Party (PP), the object of which is to put the brakes on the massive influx of immigrants who come to the islands and who wish to stay and live here.
The law doesn't intend to keep foreigners out of the Canary Islands, merely to limit the annual numbers and, so far, doesn't seem to apply to members of the European Union, who are entitled to free movement within member countries. But try telling that to the man in the street. To them a foreigner is a foreigner, whether they come from inside or outside the EU, or indeed, even from different communities in Spain.
Canarians are worried about any outsiders taking their jobs (compounded by the fact that unemployment has risen in the Canaries, while it has dropped in Spain overall). They are, perhaps understandably, also concerned that they end up seeming like foreigners in their own land, in places where a lot of outsiders congregate, as is the situation in areas such as Playa de Las Américas in the south of Tenerife.
Whilst I might not use the same melodramatic terms as this article in EL DÍA, one does have to accept that the Canary Islands are an archipelago with physical limits that cannot support an unlimited population. That is pure logic, as by extension, are some sort of measures that prevent the islands becoming over-saturated.
After all, who the hell would want to come and visit lumps of rock, covered in concrete towers? It's bad enough that that is the (incorrect) perception many already have!
As this article reminds us, many precedents already exist of territories that have controls on the population within their geographical space. Among them, France with limits in Corsica; Italy in Elba and Sicily; Britain with the Channel Islands & Isle of Man; Denmark in the Faroe Islands; Greece in many islands in the Agean sea and Dodecanese and Portugal with the neighbouring Madeira y Azores. A Canary Islands Residence Law would not be an exceptional situation in the European Union.
Why it hasn't happened previously, even though there have been "rumblings" of talk for years, was that it had not become an acute problem in the public's eyes until this year's massive influx of Africans, which has managed to make such a measure palatable to the population at large and gain a lot of support from among them.
And if you don't think the discussion is frequent, just do a Google search for "Ley de Residencia canarias" and see that you get well over half a million results, many of which are discussion posts as well as the press coverage. Multiply that by maybe ten, to include all the rest of the population who are not discussing it online and, I think, you will get some idea of the level of importance the matter has.
The latest polls back this up, by showing that immigration has unseated terror and unemployment as Spain's top worry. In the Canaries, unemployment, as we have mentioned, is still a worry and goes hand in hand with the immigration problem.
Unfortunately, whilst there are some people capable of debating the situation in a peaceful and adult manner, there are also far too many more here, fired by these frequent discussions, who are merely capable of racism and xenophobia - as I have personally found out on various occasions lately, being on the receiving end of pointedly deliberate "nasty" remarks, to unintentional, though ignorant ones.
This weekend will further show just how much support a Residence Law has.
Various residents' groups (with links to the nationalists) have called a demonstration that is to take place in Santa Cruz on Sunday. The organizers certainly expect a massive turn out from all over the islands. The CC themselves are split over it and there appears some attempt to be diplomatic. The president of the right-wing Partido Popular (PP) says he isn't going himself, but has "liberated his militants" so they can attend. Only the Socialist Parties (PSC-PSOE) have asked the government to put a stop to the demonstration against immigration, that they see as xenophobic.
They say and, I have to say I agree, that such an action gives out a message of "no to foreigners", that is highly unsuitable in a community that lives off tourism.
The islands need outside money to achieve that and to improve the standard of living for their citizens and, they know it. Up to now, we Europeans have been the "price" that has come with it, just as taxes are are merely a symptom of success (profits), but increasingly, we are seen with the same "enthusiasm" as the former. The "antidote" to that is encouraging non-European investment into the ZEC, which I think is demonstrated by the keenness (and success) in attracting US money of late.
The unions have expressed their rejection of the demonstration, calling it racist. As has the Platform for Human Rights. The latter also criticize the Coalición Canaria (CC) and the Partido Popular (PP) for not putting a stop to it and, accuse them of feeding the whole thing with party political and electoral messages.
But my forecast is still that the ink is already virtually dry on the Residence Law, creating, effectively, The Channel Islands of the Atlantic, demonstration or not.
