The Basque Immigration Observatory Ikuspegi has published the Barometer 2023. The document reflects the perceptions and attitudes of the population of foreign origin.

It analyzes aspects such as the perception of immigrants and their volume, the consequences observed in Basque society, the criterion of rights and services, models of coexistence and spaces of relationship, stereotypes and the degree of sympathy or immigration policy and the tolerance index.

The study indicates that the data "improve year after year". However, the figures still show “the stigmatization of some groups of people of foreign origin”. It highlights the “greater mistrust” of those who come mainly from Morocco, Algeria and the Maghreb.

Return to 2021 data

According to the report, the "degree of tolerance" of Basque society has "returned" to the values of 2021 after stabilising the demand for Ukrainian asylum: “After the disappearance of the social emergency, it returns to more logical positions.” Data also indicate that migration “is not” among the problems of Basque society.

The research highlights the “positive attitude” to false and negative stereotypes regarding foreign immigration: “More people reject these stereotypes than those who agree with them.”

The report stresses that the main concern for migrants in Basque society is their “threats to welfare”: “However, Basque society rejects an exclusive social protection system. It considers public education and health to be universal rights for all people.”

The data also show that Basque society increasingly recognizes that immigration is a “structural social process”: “According to the data, it is increasingly assumed that we can contribute in one way or another to our well-being and to the implementation of tools so that we can all truly participate in the rule of law that establishes our rights and duties”.