SPAIN/ISLAM: GOS SURVEY FINDS MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MADRID 002238 SIPDIS SIPDIS EUR/FO FOR FARAH PANDITH EUR/PPD FOR JEAN DUGGAN DEPT FOR MAJ ANDREW BRINKMAN, PM/ISO DEPT PLEASE PASS NWC CAPT TOM HALE, DR. MIKE MAZARR E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KISL KIRF KPLS SP SUBJECT: SPAIN/ISLAM: GOS SURVEY FINDS MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS FAIRLY CONTENT MADRID 00002238 001.2 OF 003 Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The Government of Spain released its second annual survey of first generation immigrants of Muslim faith on December 11. The results, which generally described a tolerant and fairly content Muslim population in Spain, closely corresponded with those of the 2006 survey. Eighty-three percent of respondents described themselves as adapted or well-adapted to life in Spain, while 74 percent said they felt comfortable or very comfortable in Spain. Eighty-four percent of respondents said they had not encountered any type of obstacle in the practice of their religion in Spain. Ninety percent of respondents strongly agreed with the statement, "Violence is an absolutely unacceptable form of defending and spreading religious beliefs," while two percent strongly disagreed. Seventy-four percent agreed that the State should be absolutely neutral with respect to religion. The Minister of Justice described the results of the survey as "highly encouraging," but GOS leaders cautioned against complacency and pointed to the challenge as addressing the needs of the second generation - Muslim children of Spanish nationality who are an increasing presence in the Spanish education system. END SUMMARY. //THE SURVEY AND ITS PROBLEMS/ ¶2. (U) The Ministries of Justice, Interior, and Labor and Social Affairs joined forces in 2007 to sponsor a survey entitled "The Muslim Community of Immigrant Origin in Spain" conducted by reputable Spanish polling agency Metroscopia. The agency polled 2,000 Muslims throughout Spain, targeting geographic areas in proportion to the approximate distribution of Muslim immigrants throughout the country, in June and July of 2007. Fifty seven percent of respondents were Moroccan, twelve percent from Senegal, 11 percent from Pakistan, and five percent from Algeria. Metroscopia issued two cautions. First, the survey results may have trended overly positive, based on a phenomenon called "social desirability," in which respondents of a potentially marginalized group are inclined to answer sensitive and/or controversial questions with what they perceive to be the socially desirable response. Second, the Muslim immigrant population in Spain is not entirely on the grid, making it difficult to gauge the opinions of those immigrants who have immigrated illegally, are unreachable by phone, or are unwilling to participate. Nevertheless, Metroscopia stands by the overall validity of the survey. In 2006, the Ministry of Interior hired Metroscopia to conduct a similar survey, which found that the Muslim community overall in Spain was generally tolerant and well-adapted. ¶3. (U) Eighty-three percent of respondents to the 2007 survey described themselves as adapted or well-adapted to life in Spain; 14 percent were not well adapted or not at all adapted. Seventy-four percent said they felt comfortable or very comfortable living in Spain; six percent were slightly or very uncomfortable. Eighty-four percent of respondents said they had not encountered any type of obstacle in the practice of their religion in Spain, while 13 percent said they had. Ninety percent of respondents agreed with the statement, "Violence is an absolutely unacceptable form of defending and spreading religious beliefs," while two percent disagreed. Seventy-four percent agreed that the State should be absolutely neutral with respect to religion. Seventy-four percent of respondents agreed that "In Spain today, Muslims and Christians are not trying hard enough to understand and respect each other." Forty-nine percent of respondents described themselves as devout adherents to their faith. Eighty two percent of respondents agreed that being a good Muslim and a good Spaniard were compatible, while three percent disagreed. Sixty-seven percent believed that inter-religious marriages should be respected. The aspects of the Spanish government most respected by respondents were liberty, the public welfare system, and respect for religious beliefs. On a scale of 0-10 of how much respondents could trust various persons and institutions, Muslim immigrants in Spain gave the United States a 2.9, compared with 5.2 for the UN, 5.4 for the Arab League, and 6.0 for the EU. //THE SPIN// ¶4. (U) Justice Minister Mariano Fernandez-Bermejo, Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, Secretary of State for Immigration Consuelo Rumi, and Metroscopia President Jose Juan Toharia held a press conference December 11 to announce MADRID 00002238 002.2 OF 003 the results. Although the percentage of the Muslim immigrant population eligible to vote in the March 2008 national elections is very small, GOS leaders underscored the role of the PSOE government in achieving these results and emphasized that more would be done in a future Zapatero government. Riay Tatary, head of the Union of Spanish Islamic Communities (UCIDE),Spain's largest Islamic organization, sat in the front row of the standing-room only event. Other notable attendees included Felix Herrero, the embattled head of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (FEERI),and Mouneir Mahmoud Aly El-Messery, the imam of Madrid's M-30 mosque. ¶5. (U) Consuelo Rumi, Secretary of State for Immigration and Emigration, described the results of the study as encouraging and took the opportunity to gloat that Spain had studied the failed models of France and Northern Europe and had adapted a more comprehensive and basic approach that focused on equality and pluralism. Nevertheless, she said there was no room for self satisfaction The Labor and Social Affairs Ministry will spend more than 1 billion euros in the next fiscal year on integration issues, not including efforts by other Ministries and Autonomous Communities, which represents an annual increase of over 300 million euros. ¶6. (U) Justice Minister Fernandez Bermejo described the numbers as "highly encouraging" and said they reflected "a Spanish society that is open, mature and capable of respecting all." Interior Minister Rubalcaba said that the 2007 survey did not so much reveal new information as provide an endorsement of the statistical accuracy of the 2006 survey, which was encouraging to the GOS. The GOS had high confidence in the accuracy of the results. Rubalcaba said that the most revelatory aspect of the survey was that it indicated Muslim immigrants by and large share the same values as all Spaniards. Rubalcaba said that the three Ministries work on integration issues constantly and enjoy excellent cooperation. Rubalcaba also said that the three Ministries planned to continue conducting the annual survey with no foreseen end date. //CHALLENGES// ¶8. (U) Rumi stated that the principal challenge of the future would be ensuring that the second generation, those children who are already in Spanish schools and are Spanish citizens by birth, enjoy access to all of the equalities and rights of Spanish citizens. There is no room for self satisfaction Rubalcaba echoed this sentiment and agreed that there was no room for complacency. Rubalcaba noted that the challenge in other European nations has been to help the second and third generations to develop an identity that corresponds with both European and Islamic values. He noted that second-generation children were Spanish citizens by birth, and he said, "They're already in the schools, some in high school. They're Spanish, and they're going to demand their rights, with every justification, because they are citizens. That is the challenge.8 Fernandez Bermejo acknowledged that the study had not reached every Muslim community, and he said identified one of the government's main challenges as bringing clandestine and/or reclusive immigrants into the Spanish mainstream. He also emphasized the additional challenges of providing sufficient land and zoning for new places of worship, vetting and training of imams, and providing prisoners with access to religious services and ministry. ¶9. (U) Metroscopia's Toharia fielded a question about a recent study released by the European Network Against Racism that described Spaniards as increasingly racist and xenophobic. He said that polling data and studies did reveal a clear disconnect between Spaniards' opinions of immigrants, particularly North African immigrants, and those immigrants' opinion of Spain. Rubalcaba added that the value of a study such as this was that it could serve to show Spaniards that Muslim immigrants wanted the same things and shared the same values as Spaniards. Toharia also fielded a question about the percentages who chose the controversial or extremist response to certain questions about religion and violence, saying that the small percentage was not particularly alarming as it generally corresponded to the accepted small margin of any population that holds controversial views. //REALITY// MADRID 00002238 003.2 OF 003 ¶10. (C) The positive results of this survey certainly suggest that the Muslim community is adapting well to life in Spain. However, Spain remains in the sights of Al-Qa'ida and subsidiary terrorist organizations, and Spaniards' own xenophobic attitudes could reveal themselves more acutely in the midst of a likely economic downturn that could generate higher unemployment for Muslims in key sectors such as construction. In meetings with various ministries, post's Muslim engagement working group has not had the impression that the several ministries work particularly well together as Rubalcaba claims, particularly in the realm of eduation, an issue which also experiences serious disconnects between national and regional governments. Furthermore, while describing Spain as pluralist, tolerant, free, and caring, none of the leaders mentioned the fact that the average Muslim immigrant will not be able to gain the right to vote until at least the 2012 national elections and possibly until 2016, thanks to a citizenship system clearly biased toward European and Latin American immigrants. Emboffs have made this point privately to GOS officials, one of whom recently told us that if Zapatero wins reelection in March 2008, the next PSOE government could relax either citizenship or voting requirements to capitalize on the increasingly numerous immigrant electorate (Muslims represent close to two percent of the overall Spanish population, while overall immigrants represent at least 10 percent). The Partido Popular has thus far failed to elaborate an immigration policy that would win popular support (immigrant and native Spanish); thus, the net impact is that an empowered immigrant electorate could provide a semi-permanent boost for the Socialists against the rapidly aging PP base. Nevertheless, the Spanish political system still remains largely inaccessible to Muslim immigrants. AGUIRRE