Executive summary

• Author: Lorenzo Cachón
• Pages: 5-11

5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Introduction

There have been great social and political changes in Spain over th e past 44 years. Major

transformations have taken place in the country’s social st ructure, forming a much mo re

diverse society in ethnic and religious (and other) terms. Two of the major interrelated

changes have been a demographic trans formation and the conversion of Spain into a

country of net immigration. Between 1975 and 2019 the population has grown from

36 million to 47 million, although the birth-rate sharply declined in 1976, which, together

with the increase in life expectancy, has radically transformed the age structure. In 1975,

44 % of the population were aged 25 or youn ger and 10 % were 65 or older; in 2019,

these figures are 25 % and 20 % respectively. Related to this change is the transformation

of Spain into a country of immigration. Up to the mid-1980s, the only notable differentiated

ethnic group was that formed by the 600 000 Span ish Roma. In the late 1990s,

immigration underwent a very sharp acceleration, and by 30 June 2019 the number of

foreigners with legal residence in Spain was 5 535 079, which represents 11.8 % of the

total population. The largest groups are from Romania, Morocco, the United Kingdom, Italy,

China, Bulgaria and Germany.1 The rapid rise in immigration poses new challenges to

Spanish society, including increased risks related to discriminatory pra ctices. Some 80 %

of Spaniards are Cath olics (mostly non-practising), 4 % are members of other religious

groups (chiefly Islam and Protestantism) and 16 % are non-believers or atheists.

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 laid down the legal framework of a coexistence governed

by democratic principles, making equal treatment and non- discrimination one of the basic

pillars of a non-confessional state. Although few actions are brought before the courts,

discriminatory practi ces occur relatively often, on various grounds. These discriminatory

practices chiefly affect certain migrant groups and Roma, but also concern grounds such

as sexual orientation and disability.

There are several specific social and employment programmes for combating

discrimination on various grounds. There are also positive action progr ammes to combat

discrimination in gender and disability. All these programmes are of value, although they

are not very effective in their overall impact.

There have been numerous conflicts between the rights of organisations with an ethos

based on religion or b elief (in particular the Catholic Church, with which Spain signed an

agreement in 1976 that is still in force) and other rights to non -discrimination. This has

generated a significant amount of jurisprudence in Spain2 and the ECt HR.3

The great recession suffered by Spain between 2008 and 2014 and the policies that

Governments have been implementing to address it have led to a marked change in policy

priorities. For most of 2019, Spain has had a functioning Government, although there were

two general elections in 2019 – in April and November.4

2. Main legislation

Equality is one of the highest values of the legal system established by the Spanish

Constitution of 1978. Article 14 of the Constitution says: ‘Spaniards are equal before the

law and may not in any way be discriminated against on the grounds of birth, race, sex,

1 Statistics on foreigners residing in Spain (Estadística de extranjeros residentes en España), 30 June 2019,

http://extranjeros.mitramiss.gob.es/es/Estadisticas/operaciones/con-

certificado/201906/Residentes_Principales_Resultados_30062019.pdf.

2 Constitutional Court Judgments 5/1981 of 13 February 1981; 47/1985 of 27 March 1985; 106/1996 of 12

June 1996; and 51/2011 of 14 April 2011.

3 Fernández Martínez v. Spain, No. 5603/07, 12 June 2014.

4 A new coalition Government was formed on 7 January 2020, comprising the Socialist Party and the Unidas

Podemos (a coalition of leftist political parties).