Living in Spain as an immigrant who has been welcomed in is a huge privilege. Seeking to be a contributing immigrant is of course the challenge. Contributing through paying taxes is the easiest one (though why are the taxes so high?); contributing to the future welfare of the land and people is the deeper challenge – though this is our declared purpose.
I had a conversation way back pre-the vote on the referendum concerning the UK and the EU. A Brit in conversation with me insisted there was only one way to vote, and furthermore he explained to me
It’s all about the country first (the UK), and it’s obvious we are different. There are two different words, mate, they’re immigrants and we are ex-pats.
No we too are immigrants. Or biblically ‘foreigners in the land / aliens’.
Thank God that as immigrants we have the Bible defending us, asking that we be given space in the land.
Dependent on how far back we go of course many of us are descended from immigrants. Many in the West and indeed Jews – did not Abraham come from Ur of the Chaldees, even before they came out of Egypt under Moses?
Yesterday in Barcelona there was a huge and wonderful street protest. Organisers suggested 500,000 and the official sources 160,000 (so probably around 200,000 which roughly translates into 1/10 of the population of the city) gathered and marched under the umbrella of welcoming refugees, giving a sign to Spain and to the world. In 2015 Spain agreed to accept 16,000 refugees – to date 1000 have been allowed in. Barcelona has been pushing for the quota and more to be allowed in saying ‘we are ready to receive them’. For certain countries in Europe there is no need to build a wall – stretches of water like the Mediterranean are the wall built without cost!
Here are two videos from yesterday. The first gives more of the facts and figures, the second some small footage.
https://youtu.be/JQqCS8Y5xEM
The issues that we face today are complex. There are no easy solutions, but compassion and welcome has to be at the forefront, seeking to do everything possible to welcome the stranger. Thank you Barcelona, thank you Ada Colau.