Belonging in Spain

Across Europe, illegal immigration is political dynamite. Governments the length and breadth of the continent are toughening up borders, and rules. But not in Spain. Spain’s government has gone the opposite way, giving legal status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants. In this programme Anwar Akhtar, who for two decades has been travelling to Barcelona and has watched the city’s makeup shift, asks what this change means for Spain.

As the country gears up for a very tightly fought general election campaign, Anwar speaks to migrants who have been through the process, to politicians who have dealt with it, as well as to young Spaniards from diverse backgrounds about identity, the economy and the future of Spain.

Producer: Giles Edwards.