Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MADRID2238
2007-12-14 12:39:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Madrid
Cable title:  

SPAIN/ISLAM: GOS SURVEY FINDS MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KISL KIRF KPLS SP 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2020
PP RUEHAG RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHMD #2238/01 3481239
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 141239Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3944
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 3199
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)

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