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1. Factsheet: Unaccompanied Minor Children (Los Menas)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
MENAs (Menor Extranjero no Acompañado, or “Unaccompanied Foreign Minors”) is the term used to describe minors (under the age of eighteen) who arrive in Spain with no parents or guardians. The children come primarily from North Africa and are predominately Muslim. In recent years, right-wing politicians and groups in Spain have targeted and stigmatized them by employing anti-Muslim tropes.
Topic:
Migration, Muslims, Unaccompanied Minors, and Los Menas
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and North Africa

2. Factsheet: Hogar Social Madrid

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Hogar Social es un movimiento social y político de extrema derecha creado en Madrid en 2014, que cuenta con filiales en otras ciudades como Toledo, Granada y Zaragoza. La líder del movimiento, Melisa Domínguez Ruiz, militó previamente en el partido político Movimiento Social Republicano (MSR). Los miembros del Hogar Social han expresado ideas xenófobas, vinculando delincuencia e inmigración. Los musulmanes han sido un blanco especial de sus críticas. En 2016 Hogar Social llevó a cabo en una acción violenta contra la principal mezquita de Madrid.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Muslims, and Hogar Social
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

3. Factsheet: Vox Party

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The VOX Party is a far-right, nationalist political party in Spain that advocates discriminatory policies against Spanish Muslims and Muslim immigrants. VOX has achieved significant political success in regional and national elections since its 2013 founding, while building a political narrative that Spain must be “reconquered” from Muslims again—a reengineering of the centuries-old mythology of Reconquista. The party’s political messaging employs derogatory rhetoric against Muslims broadly and Muslim women in particular, while declaring a “civilizational clash” between Spain and Islam.
Topic:
Nationalism, Discrimination, Islamophobia, Far Right, and VOX Party
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

4. Factsheet: Ceuta and Melilla - Two Muslim Cities in Spain

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Ceuta and Melilla are autonomous Spanish cities in North Africa. Both cities act as the border between Spain and Morocco. Although they each have autonomous governments from Spain, their educational systems are managed by the regional Spanish government of Andalusia and institutions such as the Catholic church and the judiciary are under the jurisdiction of Andalusia. While Ceuta and Melilla are majority Muslim, their neighborhoods are separated between Muslims and Christians from the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslim populations of both cities face discrimination.
Topic:
Discrimination, Islamophobia, Borders, Autonomy, and Muslims
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, North Africa, Ceuta, and Melilla

5. Factsheet: Hogar Social

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Hogar Social is a right-wing Spanish social and political movement created in Madrid in 2014, now with chapters in other cities including Toledo, Granada, and Zaragoza. The movement’s leader, Melisa Domínguez Ruiz, previously worked in the right-wing political party Republican Social Movement (Movimiento Social Republicano, or MSR). Hogar Social members have expressed xenophobic sentiments, including linking crime and immigration. Muslims have been a particular target and in 2016, Hogar Social took part in a violent action against Madrid’s main mosque.
Topic:
Social Movement, Far Right, Political Parties, and Hogar Social
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

6. Factsheet: Reconquista Trope

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The historical myth of the Reconquista has been one of the most recurrent tropes used by far-right parties in Spain. The controversial concept—contested by many scholars— has been reappropriated, misinterpreted, and misused to build political bases and campaigns on anti-Muslim hate, conspiracy theories, and white nationalism in Spain and across Europe.
Topic:
Nationalism, Islamophobia, Far Right, Conspiracy Theory, and Reconquista
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

7. Factsheet: Cooperation Agreement of 1992

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Cooperation Agreement of 1992 is a legal framework established by the Spanish government and the Islamic Commission of Spain to guarantee the rights of Muslims living in Spain. Included in the agreement were essential aspects of development and citizenship, such as the teaching of Islam to Muslim children and the regulation of worship places. Although almost thirty years have passed since the signing of the agreement, several issues key to Muslim life—such as the increasing need for Muslim cemeteries—have yet to be solved.
Topic:
Islam, Religion, Treaties and Agreements, and Muslims
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain