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This project seeks to determine why, according to various indicators, there is relatively less antiimmigrant
sentimentamong policymakersand the public in Iberia than in most other European countries. The methodology employs a
structured, focused comparative case study of Spain and Portugal. After situating the project within the fields of migration
studies, comparative politics, and Iberian studies, the dissertation takes a markedly historical approach. Special attention
is paid to the Moorish Conquest of Iberia, the Iberian Reconquest, a long history of authoritarian leadership, Franco's
Hispanidad and Salazar's Portugalidade , rapid economic modernization and reintegration with Europe in the latter half of
the twentieth century, the politics of democratic transition, return migration, EU membership, and the 11 March 2004
attacks in Madrid, all which are influential events to today's discussion of immigration.
In addition to the presentation of numerous quantitative data, the dissertation draws heavily upon qualitative data from
nearly 40 interviews with politicians, bureaucrats, religious leaders, and representatives of NGOs in Madrid, Barcelona, and
Lisbon. In addition to considering the standard independent variables that tend to provoke negative backlashes in other
immigrantreceivingpolities, including rapid inflows of migrants, the perception of threats (economic, security, and cultural),
and elite leadership, we examine the particular roles of democratic and migration transitions in both countries.
Consideration of these transitions is important to how contemporary immigration is received in the Iberian Peninsula as
they are unique within the European experience and, as such, are treated as contextual variables herein. In the case of
democratic transition, the influence of an antiimmigrant
rightist movement is limited in the sociopolitical
climate of thesepostauthoritarianregimes
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