Reflections on Immigrants and Integration: Spanish Society at the Beginning of the XXI Century

Immigration, which is mostly for economic reasons in the case of Spain, is a burning issue today, & this article approaches it from the angle of integration. This concept is compared with assimilation, segregation & acculturation, underlining several aspects: structural, social & of identity. The course of integration in the European Union is described, analyzing the French model, which could be labeled "republican assimilation," & the British model, which obeys "plural multiculture," concluding that no specifically Spanish model actually exists. There is a section on the Islamic hiyab, & finally a proposal for plural, open & inclusive integration. Tables, Graphs. Adapted from the source document.