ABSTRACT
In this chapter we challenge conventional views that the tensions and difficulties surrounding the integration of Muslims derive primarily from Islamophobia. As the Spanish case study shows, the reluctance to give visibility to Islam in the public space is much more a political issue than a social reality. In Spain, the political construction of the ‘other’ is not skin-color- and race-based, but rather religion-based. The purpose of this chapter is to argue that current policies limiting Muslims’ public visibility may be based in tradition and have a structural basis of legitimacy in Spain (Zapata-Barrero 2010b: 383), but they are also directly part of the anti-Muslim rhetoric; even if socially, as we will see in section three, there is no way to justify these policies. We want to show that there is a contrast between the foundation of certain policies aimed at limiting the public expression of Muslims, and public opinion and attitudes. 2 Xenophobia is then considered as a political and media construction, rather than a social fact. Anti-immigrant policies respond much more to the rhetoric of electoral strategy than as a channel answering real needs and demands of citizens, as the recent burka debate promoted by several Spanish municipalities shows – see Spanish newspapers during June and July 2010 – as we will see later.
