Economic Crisis and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment: The Case of Andalusia

This paper provides three interrelated reasons not to confound perceptions of economic group-threat with hostility toward people of foreign origin. Firstly, I argue that expansive notions of prejudice impede analyzing attitudes toward immigration and immigrants with sufficient precision. Secondly, the recent evolution in the Southern Spanish region of Andalusia illustrates divergent trajectories: anti-immigrant sentiment remained subdued despite surging unemployment and perceived conflict-of-interest. Thirdly, various factors are found to contain anti-immigrant sentiment amidst inauspicious economic circumstances and regardless of perceived group-competition. The study shows that attitudes towards immigrants hinge on a complex array of predispositions and perceptions, rather than economic facts and interests per se.