Report examines immigrants in Catalonia

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The Information Centre for Foreign Workers (CITE), set up by the CC.OO trade union confederation, is the leading organisation specialised in advising immigrants in Catalonia. Its 2003 annual report provides valuable information on the characteristics of immigrants, their legal situation and their employment situation.

The Information Centre for Foreign Workers (Centro de Información para Trabajadores Extranjeros, CITE), is an organisation created in 1987 by the largest trade union organisation in Catalonia, the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (Comisiones Obreras, CC.OO), to cater for immigrant workers. In its 17-year history, CITE has followed a policy of setting up local offices and now has 36 open to the public all over Catalonia, and is currently the most important organisation in its area of action. The services provided to immigrants at the offices include information and advice on dealing with applications for work and residence permits, family reunification, renewal of permits, nationalisation, schooling, health, housing, social benefits, employment, labour relations and taxation. Furthermore, CITE acts as a mediator with educational establishments for the purposes of integrating students and immigrant families. It also fosters the creation of associations that facilitate integration, in collaboration with the main associations of immigrants and with local institutions and authorities.

In its annual report for 2003, CITE states that it provided services to a total of 23,318 users, which suggests that 10%-15% of the immigrant population in Catalonia visited its offices. These users made a total of 33,468 visits and 63,419 queries. In its report, CITE makes a detailed analysis of the characteristics of its users, which is highly valuable information.

Age

The CITE report highlights an increase in the population aged up to 18 years of age, which represents 12.1% of its users. The increase in this young population raises the important question of schooling for this group. Most immigrants using CITE, however, are of working age: 47.2% are between 31 and 50 and 27.6% are between 19 and 30. The population over the age of 50 represents only 13.1% of the total.

Gender and origin

The 2003 CITE report highlights the increasing number of women among the immigrant population. In 2003, the proportion of women users was 48.3%, representing a sharp increase over recent years. The rising female presence in the immigrant population is related to changes in the origin of immigrants, but it is also true that the stereotype of the young male Moroccan immigrant is no longer applicable. For some years there has been an increase in the immigrant population from Latin America, of which women represent a majority (50%-55%). Due to this change, in 2003 the main group of users of the CITE by country of origin was no longer Moroccans but Ecuadorians. In 2003, the immigrant population from Ecuador represented 20.9% of the users, followed by Morocco at 19.1%, Colombia at 12.1%, Argentina at 5.2% and Peru at 3.6%. The remaining 39.1% came from a total of 101 countries, which is indicative of the dimensions of immigration at present.

There has also been a sharp increase in the number of Moroccan women, who represented 40.9% of Moroccan immigrants using CITE in 2003. The CITE report points out, however, that there is still a high proportion of men among immigrants from Senegal, Gambia, Pakistan and sub-Saharan Africa.

Marital status

There has been an increase in the number of married immigrants using CITE, and they are now practically on a par with single people. The report suggests that these changes may be the result of family reunification and a desire among immigrants to settle in the host country.

The great majority of the immigrants share their dwelling with their family. Of the users of CITE's services, 61.3% states that this was the case. Only 9.7% live alone, and the number of people sharing accommodation with friends has fallen. These changes raise the question of the lack of affordable housing, a pressing problem that is currently a major topic of debate in Spain (ES0302106F).

Level of education

The CITE report states that 36.0% of the immigrants have only primary education, 32.0% have secondary education, 16.4% have vocational training and 7.1% have a higher or university education. This appears to refute the stereotype of the immigrant with a low level of education. Indeed, a comparison with the level of education of the whole population of Catalonia aged 16 or over in 2003 (data from Institut d’Estadística de Catalunya, IDESCAT) shows a very similar distribution of the population with primary (34.0%) or secondary education (37.5%). On the other hand, in the general population of Catalonia there is a higher proportion of people with a higher education (20.4%), and a lower proportion of people with vocational training (6.5%). It is also significant that there is no clear difference in the level of education between men and women immigrants. The greatest difference is the higher proportion of men with only primary education along with the higher proportion of women with secondary education.

From the sectors of activity in which immigrants are concentrated, it can be concluded that their occupational situation does not correspond to their level of education - see below.

Legal situation and employment situation

As consequence of current immigration policies (ES0310107F) and of the increase in the number of immigrants without permits, estimated to be around 200,000 in Catalonia, the report states that the number of people without permits among CITE's users is increasing. As many as 60.6% of the users have no residence permit.

With regard to the employment situation of immigrants, two key aspects are the sectors of activity in which they work and their legal situation. The main area of activity is domestic work, in which 21.3% of CITE users are employed, followed by construction (18.9%) and hotels and catering (15.6%). Industry employs only 14.6% of the users, though this area of employment is expanding. Whereas employment in domestic service, construction, hotels and catering, industry and retailing is increasing, it is falling considerably in agriculture, one of the traditional areas of attraction for immigrants.

With regard to their legal situation, the report highlights the high proportion of immigrant workers (as many as 54.6%) in the 'underground' economy, ie working without permits or without contracts and social security cover. The CITE data show that this situation is widespread in certain activities, particularly in domestic service (73.4% have no residence permit or social security) and in hotels and catering (59.2% have no residence permit or social security). In agriculture the proportion of clandestine employment has fallen, though it still affects 61.8% of the employees in the sector. In industry, while the proportion of clandestine employment is increasing, it affects only 28.3% of CITE users employed in this sector.

CITE and integration of immigrants

The main immigration procedures that CITE deals with are legalisations and first-time permits, and there has been a sharp increase in the number of queries on family reunification and nationalisation. This indicates that there are two main groups of immigrants: those who have no permit and wish to legalise their situation; and those who have settled in Spain and wish to reunify their family and even eventually obtain Spanish nationality.

Finally, one of the main aims of CITE as is the integration of immigrants in the host society. With this aim, the 2003 annual report mentions actions taken in relation to public administrations, collaboration with other immigrant organisations and in the creation of associative structures, and actions taken to defend the citizenship rights of immigrants. For example, 482 cases of assistance were provided in educational establishments. Furthermore, CITE stresses that the promotion of language teaching is a normalising factor that contributes to the integration of the immigrants in the host society.

Commentary

The CITE annual report is a document of great value because it provides information that is not available from other sources, in particular on illegal immigrants who are not covered by the official statistics. The figures on assistance services provided at CITE's offices show the main problems encountered by immigrants in Spain, and their aims when they arrive in the country. The report not only provides valuable figures on this subject, but also provides information on the action taken by CITE in order to facilitate the citizenship rights of the immigrants and their integration in the host society, which are major challenges in the world today. (Ramon Alos, QUIT-UAB)