Spain: Immigration surge fuels racism

from the Guardian:

Official condemnation of the racist barracking suffered by England footballers in Spain this week cannot hide the fact that xenophobia is on the rise in a country now Europe's biggest magnet for immigrants, Spanish anti-racism campaigners warned yesterday.

"A few years ago it was bad to be a racist ... now there is more impunity," complained Begona Sáñchez, a spokeswoman for the SOS Racismo group. "This is not an isolated incident. It is a signal that, although the vast majority of Spaniards are not racists, this is something that is consolidating here."
...
Amnesty International ... dedicated a report two years ago to racial abuse and torture by Spanish police.

The report detailed cases of deaths, rape, sexual assault and violence against foreigners while in custody, and lamented the impunity enjoyed by those responsible.

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