Has Europe changed migration, or has

migration changed Europe?

Comenius 2011 – 2013

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Has Europe changed migration, or has

migration changed Europe?

This is the official logo of the project created by students during our workshops in Poland

Comenius 2011 – 2013

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Coordinator Renata Jóźwiak

Co-coordinators Teresa Kiwińska Aldona Klejmont

Commissioning editor Rafał Szwedo

Editing Michał Karpiuk

Radosław Arciszewski

Correction Aldona Klejmont

Cover design Karol Stasiuk

Illustrations and photos by Students

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written

permission of the Publishers.

Chełm 2012

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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 7

• GERMANY

o Historical overview: migration in post WWII – Germany 10

o Migrating teenagers – the key to integration? 14

o The Thilo Sarrazin debate in Germany 15

o Migration in Sindelfingen – overview 17

o Once they came to stay 20

o Debate 22 o Interview with Bernadino di Croce 24

o Survey “Migration and Integration” 26 o Results and interpretation of the survey 29 o Migration in our school 37

o Survey within the Comenius group: Indicators of integration 38

• POLAND

o The fates of the Polish before and after 1989 41 o Poles in the PRL period 47 o Factors influencing migration for money 50 o Interviews with immigrants 54

• SPAIN

o Introduction 69

o Migrations in Spain 70

 

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§ Before entering the EU 70

§ After entering the EU 73

§ Spanish migrations with Germany and Poland 91

o The reality of our school 95

§ ‘Aula de Enlace’ 95

§ Surveys and results 99

§ Challenges 105

§ Conclusions 107

• MEDIA 109

• CONCLUSIONS 118

 

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Introduction

In 2010 the Schengen Agreement celebrated its 25 year anniversary, which has enabled freedom of movement across Europe for those European citizens influenced by the signing of the treaty. One aspect of this freedom of movement entails the issue of migration. Migration is such an integral part of European society these days that in order to understand the richness of Europe as well as its societal problems, a close investigation of issues facing migration is required.

With the commemoration of this treaty and the importance of migration for our society in mind, three schools (Gymnasium in den Pfarrwiesen, Sindelfingen, Real Escuelas Pias de San Fernando, Pozuelo, I Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace im. Stefana Czarnieckiego, Chelm) of three different countries (Germany, Spain and Poland) had the idea to carry out with pupils (aged 15-17) a project investigating to what extent European integration in general has changed migration. To answer this question, we decided to explore and link its specific aspects in every city involved in this Comenius project.

These specific aspects are the following:

- Sindelfingen: The German pupils explored the different generations of immigrants. They looked at first-generation immigrants who came to Sindelfingen in the 1960s and 1970s, including the problems they faced, their degree of integration, the relationship to their home country, their cultural identity, the role of local politics and school to integrate them. These aspects were then compared to the current situation of second-generation immigrants.

- Pozuelo: The Spanish pupils explored the way in which Spain during the 1960s was a country of emigration and how it has changed over time to become a country of immigration. Here the focus was on what role European integration played in this issue.

 

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- Chelm: The Polish pupils explored illegal emigration and its implications (issues such as the surrendering of all contact with the home country) before the raising of the Iron Curtain. Furthermore, they compared this situation with new forms of emigration enabled by European integration, such as the Polish phenomenon of 'Euro-orphans' (a situation whereby either the mother or father works abroad, sending money back home).

Each school worked on their specific area of expertise, including interviews with experts, analysis of statistics and close cooperation with local councils and press. The results of this empirical research are now available in the form of this booklet.

The empirical research carried out will now serve as a basis for a creative product which will take the form of a film: the story will be a written cooperation between pupils from each country and will be a combination of fiction and documentary. Interspersed into the story will be short interview extracts with people whose lives have been affected by migration. The story will link all aspects of the empirical research and be set in all countries.

June 2012 M. Cleiß (project coordinator)

 

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Germany

 

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I. Historical overview:

migration in post WWII - Germany Time period Political and

economic situation

Political action

Situation of immigration

Contact with asylum-seeker

1945-61 German nationals return to Germany from eastern European countries

Until 1960: 12 million refugees and displaced persons from eastern Europe, including 3.8 m from GDR

1949: Basic rights for asylum

1955-61 beginning of organized immigration of workers

1955: 1 m unemployed

1955: first treaty of recruitment with Italy; next ones: 1960 Spain and Greece, 1961-64 Turkey; 1963 Morocco; 1964 Portugal; 1965 Tunisia; 1968 Yugoslavia; 1970 South Korea

1955: 80,000 Italian guest-workers

1953-78: in total 178,000 asylum-seekers (approx. 7,100 annually)

1961-1973 immigration reaches highest point

from 1961: economic miracle after building the Berlin Wall, stop of

1966-68: break in recruitment

1964: 1 million guest-workers 1966/67: decrease in foreigners

 

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migration to eastern Germany

working by about 30% to 0.9 m.

1973-89: immigration trying to be avoided; immigration politically negative

1980: unemploy-ment: 3.6% 1983-88: unemploy-ment ca. 8.8%

1973: stop of recruitment à aim: reduction of foreigners (from 2.6 m to 1.9 m) DM 9,500,- paid on return

1973-89: number of guest-workers drops to 1.7 m; guest-workers’ families come à 4.9 m foreigners

until 1981: 80% of asylum-seekers are accepted 1985: only 29% are accepted

1983: politicians refuse to name Germany a country of immigration

1989: 1.7mil foreign employees, 4.9 m foreigners in Germany

end of the 80s: 100,000 refugees annually

1989-92 supported immigration of Germans from former Eastern Bloc

1989: political and economic collapse of Eastern Bloc, xenophobia increases

1990: stop of recruitment exception: cheap workers

1989-92: escape and emigration of approx. 582,000 citizens from GDR, immigration from approx. 721,000 re-settlers from Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union 1992: maximum of immigration: 1.5 m

1989: 121,318 refugees apply for asylum 1990: 193,063 applications, but only 3.5% are accepted 1992: applications: 428,191

 

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1992-2000 intensificat-ion in asylum policy

1992-96: unemploy-ment is doubled: 12%

1998: preference of Germans and citizens of EU in job-seeking

1998: 5.9 mil foreigners and 1.4 migrant children living in Germany without German citizenship or permanent right of residence

1999: drop in applications: 138,319 applicants

2000 until now reanimation of economic immigration

from 2000: total unemplo-yment: 10%, related to migrant population: 20%; debate about integration and parallel society

2000: dual citizenship until the age of 23 possible; 2000: Green Card for IT specialists

2000-04: 17,117 Green Cards are issued 2005: foreign population: 7.3 m (8.85%)

2000: 78,564 applicants 2005: drops to 28,914 applications 2006: 21,029 applicants; only 0.8% are accepted

2005: acceptance of Germany as an immigration country

2005: integration courses are obligatory for the right of residence

2006-08: foreign population drops 2009: foreign population increases to 0.9%; most foreigners come from Poland; immigrants from Romania and

2009: applications increase by around 25%

 

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Bulgaria increase since 2007 (joining EU); more returns to Turkey than arrivals; immigration of re-settlers and their families decreases 2010: part of population with migration background: 19.6%

 

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Section 1: Migration in Germany

Migrating teenagers – the key to integration?

 

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The Thilo Sarrazin debate in Germany:

Thilo Sarrazin was born on 12th February 1945 in Gera.

He had different leading positions and he was a high member in the

SPD political party.

In his 2010 book Deutschland schafft sich ab ("Germany Is

Abolishing Itself"), the most popular but also widely criticised book

on politics by a German-language author in a decade, he denounces

the failure of Germany's post-war immigration policy, sparking a

nation-wide controversy about the costs and benefits of the ideology

of multiculturalism.

 

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Thilo Sarrazin on the birth rate:

,, About 6 million people of Turkish, Arab, Bosnian and African

nationalities are living in Germany.

If the birth rate stays as high as it is at the moment within this group

of immigrants (Sarrazin names them muslim migrants), over the

generations they will outnumber the native German population.”

Thilo Sarrazin on cultural identity:

,, Muslim migrants are the biggest problem for integration. There

must be a reason why they can’t integrate as well as for example

Asian migrants. The reason therefore is the culture affected by

Islam.”

The theses of Sarrazin were discussed by many politicians, especially

by the SPD. They said that Sarrazin was racist and this topic they

couldn’t and wouldn’t represent in public, especially because of the

German history with the Nazis and Hitler.

Sarrazin was dismissed from the SPD and lost many of his leadership

positions.

 

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Section 2: Migration in Sindelfingen

Migration in Sindelfingen - overview

Migration background

2009

Number In %

Foreigners 11961 19,9

Naturalized Person 6996 11,7

Resettles 6845 11,4

Children of

naturalized persons

or resettles

1488 2,5

Total with Migration

background

27290 45,5

Persons without

identifiable migration

background

32689 54,5

Total 59979

 

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In Sindelfingen, 45% of the population has a migration background.

They come from about 120 different countries. Most of them are

from Turkey, Italy and Romania. In the following chart you can see

the differences of migration background or not between different age

groups. (Graph 1)

Graph 1

Violet: People with a migration background

Dark pink: People without a migration background

The older the people, the less they have a migration background.

 

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Graph 2

In Sindelfingen, most of the people are from Turkey, Italy and

Romania.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

11

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Tu

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y

Ita

ly

Ro

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nia

Cro

atia

Gre

ece

Po

lan

d

form

er

Yu

go

sla

via

Nationalities in Sindelfingen

 

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Once they came to stay A discussion at Pfarrwiesen Gymansium about integration & migration On Monday evening (29th March) the students of the 9th grade had a discussion about integration & migration at Pfarrwiesen Gymnasium, which was sponsored by our European Comenius project. Sindelfingen. "Migration & Integration - a worthwhile experience?" was the question the Comenius project disscussion was about. 2 weeks ago the German federal office for statistics announced that in every third family (living in Germany) there is at least one parent with a migration background. Student Marc Sirean (10th grade) summarized it with the words: "Multicultural is trendy!" People from different countries & different generations came to this evening to discuss this subject. Cihat Gündüz - Turkish - 3rd Generation; Marc Sirean - Romanian - 3rd Generation, Christina Solimando - Italian - 3rd Generation; Vesna Mahecic - Croatian - 1st Generation & Katharina Konopaskova - Czech - 1st Generation When talking about if you needed to eat German meals or support the German football team to be integrated, all foreigners came to the same result: No It's more important to speak the German language & try to interact with the local people. Cihat Gündüz also said that he can't feel like a German if he is always labelled a non-german. The audience consisting of teachers, students, parents, newspaper editors & interested people mostly agreed with him.

 

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Katharina Konopaskova continued by saying that not only the people who are migrants but also the local people are important for integration. If the natives don't accept the foreigners then the migrants can't really immigrate. She added that when she came to Germany there were also prejudices, some people had more, some had less. With prejudices like these the discussion ended when one person from the audience complained about a trash problem in his house & adding that it was the fault of the Turkish migrants. The students started a loud & dedicated discussion against the racist. He left the disscussion immediately after the end. But before this, Marc Sirean ended this evening with the words: "If everyone were a little bit more tolerant, the prejudices would disappear." With this European ideal, the European Union Comenius project was founded in 1995. This project will last until summer 2013, the 12 students will continue participation. This discussion about migration & integration was a worthwhile experience. 29th March 2012

Originally written by Florian Lieb, Böblinger Bote, Edited & translated by Arthur Lunev

 

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Debate: Integration of immigrants (march 2012)

OUR GUESTS:

Vesna Mahecic

• 1st generation

• Came from Croatia to Germany

in 1992

• She came because she was

looking for work

• Has 2 children today and works

as a nurse

Cihat Gündüz

• 2nd generation

• His parents came from Turkey

• Ex-student of the „Pfarrwiesen-

Gymnasium“

• Today: studies at university

 

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Katharina Konopaskova

• 1st generation

• Came from Czech Republic in

• She came because of her German

husband

• Has 1 child today and works as a

nurse

Marc Sirean:

• 2nd generation

• His mother came from Romania

• 16 years old

• Is a student of „Pfarrwiesen-

Gymnasium“

Christina Solimando:

• 3rd generation

• Her grandparents came from Italy

• 13 years old

• Is a student of „Pfarrwiesen

-Gymnasium“

 

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Interview with Bernadino di Croce

Mr. Di Croce came to Germany about 50 years ago. He’s got two

children and is happily married to a German woman. He was

one of the migrants who came during the industrial boom in

Germany in the sixties. In February 2012, the Comenius group

held an interview with this interesting person:

Where is home for you? /Where is home for your children?

He feels Sindelfingen is his home. At first it was still Italy because of

the hard work in Germany and the bad living conditions. He had to

share a small room with lots of other migrants. He was also sceptical

about the German people because there were still some followers of

Hitler and his thoughts about migrants and races. But now he feels

accepted and likes the German culture.

His children feel home is the whole world because they often moved

from one country to another one.

Were you accepted and who helped you?

At first he was very scared when he travelled to Germany because

everything was so different to Italy. He also had problems with the

 

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language and lots of German people had prejudices against him and

other migrants. They weren’t welcomed to Germany. So Mr. Di

Croce also had prejudices against German people and he wanted to

go back to Italy as fast as possible. But with time he learned to

handle the situation and met some nice German people and made

friends.

What gave you the necessary foothold?

At first he wanted to go back to Italy. His dad brought him to Germany to work because he didn’t find a job in Italy. But he promised his son he could come back after about 3 months.

 

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Survey “Migration and Integration” – sample sheet

l. General facts Age group: <15 16-30 31-45 46-60 60+ Migrant: When? ____ Where from? _____ Reason:

• Work • Persecution • War • Living conditions • Other: ____

Migration background: Who came to Germany?

• Father • Grandfather • Mother • Grandmother

When? ___ Where from? ____

 

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Where does the family live? ____ Graduation:

• Abitur • Mittlere Reife • Hauptschule • Nothing

ll. Integration Where do you feel at home? Germany

• Origin country • Nowhere

Do you feel accepted into the German society? • Yes • No • If "no", why?

Which language do you speak in your "public life"? (Job, Shopping) • German • Origin language

Which language do you speak in your "private life"? • German • Origin language

How well do you speak the German language? • Mother tongue level • high level • average level • basic level

 

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How good is your written level? • Mother tongue level • High level • Average level • Basic level • No level

Do you speak any other languages? Yes No

Do you visit any communities that connect you with your home country?

Yes No

Are you satisfied with your life in Germany? Yes No

Do you have contact with German people in your "private life"? Yes No

Would you suggest immigrating to Germany to other people? Yes No

Do you still have contact with your home country? Yes No

What do you think German people could do better? • More acceptance • No prejudices • Equal rights • Respect religion • Others: ____

 

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Results and interpretation of the survey

Survey: migration in Sindelfingen

Graph 1: When did migrants come to Germany?

 

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Graph 2: Origin of migrants

Most migrants came to Sindelfingen between 1986-2000 from South-Eastern Europe (look at the map). The biggest reasons of migration were the work and the family.

 

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Graph 3: Grade of education

Graph 4

 

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Most of the people of the 3rd generation have finished the Hauptschule which is the lowest grade. But the majority of the 2nd Generation has the qualification of the Realschule (=middle-school). Obviously, the fact that the 2nd generation knows the language better helped them to achieve more in school. (Graph 3)

The majority of the migrants of all generations feel at home in Germany. But from the 1st generation there are also bit less than 50% who feel at home in their homeland or both. The link to their homeland gets weaker the longer the migrants stay in Germany. The 3rd generation has got very few links with their home country. (Graph 4)

Graph 5

 

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Surprisingly, the 3rd generation of migrants (=the ones who were born in Germany and have got only few links with their home country (see fig. 4) fell less well integrated than the 2nd and even the generation that actually migrated. This is an interesting point to follow in order to find out possible reasons. (Graph 5)

Graph 6a: The role of the language

Graph 6b

 

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The German language gets more and more important even in private circumstances (= at home) for the 2nd and 3rd generation. There is a danger that the 3rd generation will lose the competence to speak their parents’ language: only approximately 15% use that language at home. (Graph 6a and 6b)

Graph 7

Surprisingly, the wish to have a link with the culture of the home country is important for the 3rd generation as more people of the 3rd generation attend cultural meetings than people of the 2nd and 1st generation. (Graph 7)

From the survey we can read that the 3rd generation wouldn’t recommend immigrating into Germany and that they are generally rather unhappy with their life here compared to other generations. Why? Maybe because they only know their home country from holidays and have an idealistic view on this country.

 

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Graph 8

The other generations, however, would mostly recommend immigrating to Germany. They certainly know the conditions in both countries better and they can compare the living standards. (Graph 8)

Graph 9

 

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Conclusion:

The survey shows in parts surprising results, especially the perception of the 3rd generation is astonishing: We would have thought that this (our!) generation is the best integrated one but it’s obvious that we need to differentiate: on the one hand, they speak better German than the other generations, a fact that is usually considered the best indicator for integration, on the other hand, their self-perception is rather worrying: not only that a high percentage seems to feel nowhere at home (Graph 4) but also that the level of education seems to be lower than the second generation (Graph 3). This feeling of not belonging anywhere is proved by graph 7: Young people search for a stronger link with their origins to find their identity. The way to integrate 3rd generation immigrants has to be a different one than 40 years ago. The challenge for politics and society to use the potential of these people is big but necessary to be solved.

 

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Migration in our school

Are you a migrant or do you have a migration background? [Angaben in %]

59

41yesno

Bosnia-­‐

Herzeg

ovina

France

Kazakh

stan

Kosovo

Croatia

Poland

 Rom

ania

Russia

Serbia

Czech  R

epublic

Turkey

Others

 (35  cou

ntries)

0510152025

Where

do th

e migr

ants o

f our

schoo

l come

from?

 

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Survey within the Comenius group

Indicators of integration

In order to define the abstract notion “integration”, we discussed the

suitability of various indicators, such as speaking German, watching

German TV or following the Christian faith. 4 groups had to give

points from 0 (=not suitable) to 10 (=very suitable). Here are the

results:

Interpretation  and    discussion  of  the  survey’s  results:  

 

• All  groups  agree  that  being  able  to  speak  German  is  the  most  important  element  of  integration.  

 

• Cooking  German  food  or  supporting  the  German  national  football  team  is  not  a  sign  of  integration.  After  having  discussed  these  elements,  we  agreed  that  these  are  rather  signs  of  assimilation  than  integration.  

 

• The  right  to  vote  for  immigrants  was  judged  in  very  different  ways.  There  are  a  lot  of  pros  but  also  cons.  

 

• The  aspect  of  „wearing  German  clothes“  was  also  seen  as  controversial.  With  regards  to  this  issue,  there  was  a  lively  debate  about  the  banning  of  the  burqa  in  a  number  a  number  of  European  countries.  

 

 

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Poland

 

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The fates of the Polish before and after 1989

I. Policy

The biggest changes in the whole Poland affect politics. The way of governing is totally different. For example before 1989 there was the only one party- the Polish United Workers' Party- in short PZPR. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism. Today there are lots of parties in Poland. Currently at the peak of government is the Civic Platform. Other important parties are :the Law and Justice, the Polish People's Party and the Democratic Left Alliance (Pic. 1). The man whose photo you can see in the right corner is of course Lech Wałęsa - the founder of the Independent Self-governing Trade Union "Solidarity" (Pic. 2). It was the first non-communist party-controlled trade union in the countries of Warsaw Pact. Solidarity reached 9.5 million members before its September 1981 congress that constituted 1/3 of the total working age population of Poland. Later Lech Wałęsa became the Polish president and got the Nobel Peace Prize. In these photos we can see Edward Gierek- a communist politician and the General Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party and Bronisław Komorowski- the Polish president since 6th August 2010. The Polish emblem - the white eagle on the red background didn’t have a crown on its head before 1989.

II. Sport

Sport also has changed since the fall of communism. Today stadiums and other sport facilities are more comfortable and modern. What is more Poland is currently preparing for the “Euro 2012”. Polish sportsmen win in many kinds of sport competitions and the Olympic Games. Here we can see the most famous sport stars before and after 1989. (Pic. 3)

 

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III. Daily necessities

Daily necessities are also a very important part of the development of the Polish economy. The Polish take over new inventions and participate in the life of Europe. Here are the photos presenting the progress of electrical and electronic devices: phones, television, radio, fridge, bicycles. (Pic. 4)

IV. The appearance of people and housing estates

What about people? The image of people has also changed. The Polish follow fashions from countries like Great Britain, the USA, Germany, Ireland or France. In these photographs there are examples of the look of Polish women. Here are other two photos, which present the social classes before and after 1989. (Pic. 5)

Housing estates are also becoming more modern. The blocks of flats and houses look completely different.

V. Shopping

One of the most popular communist inventions are “ration stamps”. What’s that? “Ration stamps” were cards issued by the government to allow the holder to obtain food or other commodities that were in short supply during wartime or in other emergency situations. Queues were normal during communism in Poland. People used to stay in long lines to buy anything. Usually there was only vinegar in the store on the counter. (Pic. 6) Now we’ve go lots of supermarkets in every town. There are also many shopping centers. But in the latest times shopping via the

 

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Internet is very popular, too. In this slide there is money used before 1989 and nowadays. The photo right down presents currency exchange. After II World War people weren’t allowed to have foreign money. One of the funniest facts of the communist law is that Polish couldn’t buy dollars, couldn’t sell dollars, but they could have them.

VI. Trade

Needless to say the Polish trade has been developing for the last 23 years. Not only do we cooperate with the countries like Russia, Ukraine or Bulgaria but with almost every one in the world.

VII. Tourism

Tourism has always been very important for Poland. Foreigners have visited our country especially because of beautiful landscapes and the Polish have also travelled abroad. Unfortunately during communism getting a passport was very difficult. Only members of parties and political activists could achieve it. The main destinations of the journeys were: Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia and East Germany. Now we travel all over the world. The most popular destination is the area of the Mediterranean Sea: Italy, Greece, Tunisia, Egypt etc. People also go to the British Isles and the USA. Other famous countries are selected from the map.

Before 1989 people needed special passes and passports to travel abroad. Currently if they want to go to the countries of the European Union, they only need their identity card.

 

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(Pic. 1)

(Pic. 2)

 

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(Pic. 3)

(Pic. 4)

 

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(Pic. 5)

(Pic. 6)

 

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Poles in PRL period The Polish People’s Republic (PRL) – the land of prosperity! Yes, this was the way one was supposed to think about this country. Propaganda and the image of the country, which was created by the authority of that time, was irreproachable. However, this high-flown wording, making Arcadia out of communist Poland had almost nothing in common with the reality.

The country was poor, there was hardly anything available in shops and to get some toilet paper people had to queue for hours. Meat or sugar was almost impossible to get. People, especially young ones, wanted to have better perspectives of the future life, a chance to develop and make a career so they did everything possible to get away from “this steel cage” which was the People’s Republic. “I went abroad for the first time when I was seven – recollects Anna Gawrysz, a 58-year-old woman. My mum told me that we had to do so and without any explanations packed my suitcase. We went to America. God! You have no idea what I was experiencing then! When we got off the plane I was speechless – Mrs. Gawrysz comments with big emotions and her eyes glitter. A gigantic airport, people with dark skin, skyscrapers. It was like a dream for me, a seven-year-old girl from a village. We went to my uncle’s apartment, who had been living in New York for a few years. There was everything we could only dream about: a fridge, a color television set, the radio! In our Wólka we could watch TV once a week. All kids used to run to the Korczes to watch a good-night cartoon. It was a celebration! And there in America I could watch whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted. If someone had asked me to go back to Poland then, I would have cried for hours. We had nothing in Poland. And my mum used to shout that we could not say anything to anybody. This whole America was like making little girl’s dreams come true. You only needed to have money.” The Polish People’s Republic was a free country on the face of it, but these were only empty words. The widely-developed

 

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apparatus of constraint caused that the authority interfered in all aspects of life. In defiance of such deeds the resistance/opposition, of course illegal, started to occur. It often happened that the authority was able to get to these people and the only way to survive was to escape. In such a situation Mr. Jan Derkacz, currently living in Cracow, found himself. “During communism I was a young, healthy man. I was looking for an idea which was worth sacrificing to. It became – Poland, but this true, free Poland. So I distributed the underground press; the so called second circulation wrote about what was forbidden. There were many such papers then. One day I got the news that our group got into trouble so I felt I had to run away. I left when it was possible – says an elderly man with shaking hands closing his eyes. Now it is totally different, but maybe I took too drastic steps then, however I was alone, my parents were dead. I had no idea what to do. I went to Chicago where my friend with his family lived. Thanks to them I found a job and an apartment. I was aware that I may never go back to my home country”.

But not all reasons for emigration were so serious. To prove it, let us listen to the story of Mrs. Maria Garczyńska who has been living in Madrid for years. “In PRL we lived in poverty, so everyone wanted to earn some extra money. I had some connections and could do business so I used to go here and there and always earned something. One day my friend told me that together with his colleagues they were leaving for Madrid to make some money. I completed all formalities and I went with them. But I did not return to my country. I came off and on to visit my family, but I stayed in Spain as I met my husband there. We met by chance and it was love at first sight. My friends told me I was stupid, that it would pass quickly and they encouraged me to come back but I was stubborn. I have been a happy wife and mother for thirty years now” – she says smiling.

 

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There were many causes of leaving PRL, however the politics of that time was one of the most frequent. “If someone wanted to develop, they had to join the party. There was no other choice. So I filled an application form to get a passport and I left for Chicago – recalls 63-year-old Mr. Lech Mazurek. My father fought for Poland’s freedom during II World War so how could I join the party? I was nobody’s Comrade then. But I also did not want to “waste myself”. My mother told me she would help me and I would manage somehow. And it turned out this way. I managed to get a good job and start my own business later. I met many countrymen who had been abroad for years. I lived my life but I always wanted to come back to Poland. I sometimes tortured myself that I could not sacrifice myself and die for Poland. Maybe it sounds stupid, but reading and listening about national heroes I felt ashamed that I lived in America and it was not my concern. I brought my mother to America and we came back many years after the end of communism”.

When we listen to the stories of these people who emigrated from our country, we should be glad that we live in the 21st century. We have everything we want. Oranges and coca-cola are not delicacies available only during Christmas. The authority do not limit citizens and everyone can develop. We do not need to think in the way someone tells us. But still we complain. What would our lives look like if we lived in communism, many years ago? Maybe we would have to flee abroad for a better life, freedom… We hope that thanks to the above mentioned stories of each person, everyone who reads them will understand how lucky we are that we live in free Poland after 1989!

Karolina Woszczewska

 

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Factors influencing migration for money Nowadays people do not realize what the problem of Euro- orphans is. In this section we will try to summarize the main reasons of leaving Poland and show statistics concerning the number of dependent children with no family in the country. WHY do people leave Poland? • Problems in a job market - unemployment, low wages

• People’s willingness to raise their material status – improving the

financial situation of a family, fulfilling dreams about a better life

and finding a chance for a better future

• Arguments between spouses and dissatisfaction with family life,

family problems

• The need for self-fulfillment, individual character features –

openness to new experiences, willingness to look for possibilities

of improving one’s life in a new place

 

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Graph 1 The size of euro-orphan phenomenon in Poland

73,566,4 64,7 69,6 71,1 77,5 71,7 72,1 77,6 76,1

26,533,6 35,3 30,4 28,9

22,5 28,3 27,9 22,4 23,9

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Age

The rest of the students The children of migrants

Graph 2 Care taken of the children while one of the parents migrates

75%

16%

4%2% 1%2%

The second parent

Grandparents

Adult sibilings (abrother or a sister)

Other relatives

On their own

Others

 

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Graph 3 Care take of the children while both parents leave the country

46%

29%

7%

7%

4%3%2%2%

A grandmother Agrandfather

One parents (when parentsleave interchangeably)

Adult sibilings

Other relatives

On their own

Others

Parents friends

Underage sibilings (underthe age of 18)

Table 1 The number of Euro-orphans in our school together with their caretakers

Grade Both parents left One parent left

I 2 18

II 1 27

III 4 18

Together 7 53

 

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Graph 4 The problem of Euro-orphans on the basis of a survey conducted among the students of our school

63

646

7 The number of thestudents whose oneparent has left

The remian students

The numbers ofstudents whose bothparents have left

 

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Interviews

A long way from Armenia to Poland - Owik Nazarjan (Photo 1) Journalism has always been my passion and today the dream of conducting the interview has come true. Perhaps the person I am talking to is not a superstar or a famous public hero but I think that the talk will be really interesting and fruitful and I hope you will agree with it. This person is very close to my heart and because of whom he is the interview is taking place. I am talking about my father who is going to tell us an amazing story. Owik Nazarjan (age: 47) was born in Armenia and brought up in the city of Erewan. He is a sworn translator and he’s one of five Waczik and Aszchen Nazarjan’s children.

- Dad, you can admit that we have not had an opportunity to talk about your stay and living in Poland yet?

- That is true. We have never spoken about it in detail but you have not asked me so far and I think it is a great chance to do so. - Well… so I will start from the beginning. How did you get from Armenia to Europe? I say Europe because you have travelled a lot. - I spent my childhood in Armenia. There I experienced my first love, my teenage rebellions. Of course leaving my family was a difficult decision, but I had to because of the situation in the country. It was hard to find a job. My friend told me to go to Germany. He had worked there before and we spoke about everything. - So the first place you arrived in Europe was Germany? - Yes. I worked there for one year but I felt really queer and lonely without friends and family, so I made up my mind and went to Ukraine where I had many friends and brothers who had gone there before me. - Dad, go on the gist… - OK. When I arrived in Ukraine I met a beautiful, tall, auburn-haired woman. She was from Poland. I immediately fell in love with her.

 

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- Let me guess - it was mum?! - Yes. But believe me, it was very hard to get her heart. I had to do my utmost. I made a decision to leave Ukraine where I had been working for 3 years and go to Poland just for your mum. - It is very romantic! - Because your father is a romantic man. - I wonder how you felt when you first came to Poland, after all you did not know the country and the language? - You are right. As I said before I travelled a lot. In other countries I also did not know the language and people. The experience made me more confident. I was not afraid of coming to Poland. - OK. I understand. Did you adjust fast? - Yes. The Polish were very nice, warm and tolerant. I say tolerant because my language mistakes and the lack of knowing their culture were so visible. And the next issue- the accent. I could not eliminate it. Now there happen some situations in which people do not understand me. - And I translate from “your Polish” to our Polish. - I do not think my Polish is so bad. - Tell me what you like in Poles the most? - I really like their devotion to culture, traditions, customs, celebrations and feasts- they celebrate them in their hearts and prepare for them very carefully. - And what do you like in Poland? - Beautiful, breathtaking landscapes! I love Polish mountains! After all you know that we go there every year. - At the end how would you conclude our interview? - To sum up, I can say that after many years of seeking a suitable place on the Earth for me, I found it 20 years ago and now I feel here - in Poland, wonderful! My home is where my family is! - What a great conclusion! Thank you a lot for the interview.

 

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Pavlo Rusyn (from Ukraine to Poland) (Photo 2)

1. What is your profession? I’m a student. 3. How long have you been in Poland? I’ve been here, in Poland, for 1.5 year. 4. What made you leave? / Why did you leave? I wanted to study in Poland. 5. If you could go back in time – would you leave again or would you stay in your country? I think that I would leave again. 6Was it easy to adapt to the new conditions? That was easy for m, as I think it is always easier for younger people without any family on their own. 7. What kind of barriers/difficulties did you have to overcome? Only a language barrier . 8. Would you like to go back for some time/permanently to Ukraine? Why? I wouldn’t go back to Ukraine. I think Ukraine is like Poland from before many years. There are no job opportunities or no future perspectives for the young. 9. Did you have any problems with communication in the Polish language? Yes, I did, but only in the beginning. 10. Do you like it in Poland? Yes, of course. Otherwise I wouldn’t stay here. 11. Do you intend to stay here forever? We’ll see. 12. What do you miss most? I miss my mother, because she prepares very good meals.

 

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Christoph Szymański (from Poland to Spain) (Photo 3)

1. What is your profession? I’m a receptionist-auditor. 2. Do you like your job? Why? First of all, because of a contact with foreign languages and the possibility of meeting new people from all over the world. 3. How long have you been abroad? I have spent two years in Madrid, but earlier more than a year on the Canary Islands. 4. What made you leave? / Why did you leave? In Poland it would be hard for me to find a job, which could be completely satisfying for me. In addition in Spain it is much warmer and the society is much more open than in Poland. They smile more often. 5. If you could go back in time – would you leave again or would you stay in the country? I would rather leave. 6. Was it easy to adapt to the new conditions? Definitely yes. I know Spain much better and their way of thinking, so it suits me. I feel very good here. Of course one always needs to adapt. 7. What kind of barriers/difficulties did you have to overcome? Actually I didn’t face any barriers on my way here. It admitted me very well. 8. Would you like to go back for some time/permanently to Poland? Why? Come back to Poland? For the time being I don’t consider it. If need be it could be one week a year. I’ve got an interesting job, I’m studying. I’ve got also friends and I feel here like at home in Poland.

 

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9. Did you have any problems with communication in a foreign language? No, I don’t have problems with communication. The language I knew earlier, and I only have improved it. 10. Do you like it abroad? Do I like to be here? I think that if I didn’t like , I wouldn’t stay here. 11. Are you going to stay there forever? To stay forever – I don’t know. But for the time being I don’t think about any changes. We never know, what the future will be. 12. What do you miss most about Poland? What I miss? I think that always there are some things/people that we miss. But as for products from Poland, there are Polish shops, which are quite well supplied.  

 

 

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Phillip Zasada (from Germany to Poland) (Photo 4) 1.Please, introduce yourself. My name is Philipp, I am 21 years old and come from Berlin, the capital city of Germany and now I have been living in Chełm, Poland. 2. How did it happen that you are now here in Poland, Chełm? Well, it is complicated a little bit. I have chosen to study in Poland, because I would like to become a pilot. In Germany it is in such a way that the airlines as for example Lufthansa train pilots. Very seldom can one study it. In Chelm I can study and furthermore I can enjoy pilot's education, besides, at the same time it is financed by the state. 3. What did you have difficulty with , in the first days in PWSZ Chełm? Not only the first day, but during the first months the listening comprehension was more difficult than I expected, particularly at the university. 4. Is life different in Poland, than the life of young people in Germany? The life in a big town, in comparison to a small town, is no much different. Everything is only smaller. In Poland young people organize parties like in Germany with pleasure and quite often. On the whole there are none significant differences. 5. What plans do you have for your future? Would you like to live after the studies in Poland? To tell you the truth I cannot answer this question at all. Too many factors have to be taken into consideration for example where I will find a job, where my woman will want to live, where e the best chances for a nice and quiet life will be. 6. What would you recommend to the people who have decided to study abroad? What should they not forget? Hehe.... They should be prepared for the language which is spoken in the country. Many thanks for the interview.

 

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Krzysztof Szwedo (from Poland to Great Britain) (Photo 5)

1. What is your profession? I’m a painter. 2. Do you like your job? Why? After a few years spent in England, and taking jobs in many professions, working on a construction site has one main advantage – if you are good at it, you can be promoted to a reliable position. Physical work doesn’t require to be a good-looking person or to talk with clients. I like working here because besides physical and intellectual labour I don’t have to be good at other jobs. And in my company there is freedom of speech, which doesn’t occur in companies belonging to corporations. 3. How long have you been abroad? I think that 6 and a half years. 4. Why did you leave? I left Poland because I couldn’t see any possibilities to find a job and earn good money in my region. 5. Was it easy to adapt to the new conditions? For me it was easy to adopt to new conditions, just like for many friends of mine. However I realized that for many people after 30 it wasn’t so easy. 6. What kind of barriers/difficulties did you have to overcome? Culture and language. With English it wasn’t so hard because I was learning it at school, but with culture I had lots of troubles, because I had to stop complaining about everything, more often smile and stop walking with a moody expression on my face. 7. Would you like to go back for some time/permanently to Poland? Why? I would like to go back, I hope Poland has changed a little since I left. I would go back only for some time to see those changes.

 

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8. Did you have any problems with communication in a foreign language? Personally not too big, maybe at the beginning as I was trying to talk also in a sign language, but here people are very understanding and they usually help you to say what you want. 9. Do you like it abroad? Yes, I like to be here, considering: friendlier law, people are much more open and tolerant. I live in London, and here is everything you want to buy, if you have money, of course. 10. Are you going to stay there forever? If I settle here, I can stay here permanently, because I can adapt very fast and here I feel almost like at home. 11. What do you miss most about Poland? I miss: my family, and people with whom I grew up, food – in Poland there is organic food, and I like the taste of Polish cuisine, the fresh air and the weather – there is too much rain here.

 

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Irina (from Ukraine to Poland) (Photo 6)

1. What is your profession? I’m a student of the second year. I’m unemployed. 2. How long have you been in Poland? I have lived there for 2 years. 3. What made you leave? / Why did you leave? My parents made me leave. They wanted a better future for me. 4. If you could go back in time – would you leave again or would you stay in the country? I would rather leave. 5. Was it easy to adapt to the new conditions? It was very hard during the first month, because I couldn’t speak Polish. But a little bit later everything was much better. 6. What kind of barriers/difficulties did you have to overcome? It’s hard, when examinations start. 7. Would you like to go back for some time/permanently to Ukraine? Why? I go home every week. 8. Did you have any problems with communication in the Polish language In the beginning, when I came I understood nothing in Polish. But now it is better. 9. Do you like it in Poland? Yes, I like Poland. 10. Do you intend to stay here forever? I think, that I’ll stay here forever. There are many more job opportunities here and I like the boys in Poland. 11. What do you miss most? Truly I miss my dog the most

 

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Monika Kudrel (from Poland to Germany) (Photo 7) 1. What is your profession? Since 2007 I have been working as an assistant in the company - “Siurius Consulting”. My task is to work at the office, but also there is a lot of work outside the office. Together with my partner, we’re running a business, which is an employment agency in the area of Germany. To keep regular contacts with our clients we often go to many meetings. My duty is also regular contacts with Poland and other countries in which we have our business partners, for example in Slovakia. Also those countries are visited regularly, at least once in three months. It allows a better co-operation, reliability and also honesty with our clients. For us it is indispensable to have a personal contact with our partners abroad. 2. Do you like your job? Why? Of course I like my job, it’s something special for me. Many times I call it “Mission”. I’ll explain why I said that. We meet with many people, we’get to know different places. In our job we touch the most sensitive parts of human character, e.g. illnesses. Whole families participate in it. We have to, from our side, ensure help, that’s why I used this word – Mission. 3. How long have you been abroad? My first visit to Germany took place in 2001. It was a short time in the middle of my education. I went to replace my friend, who had to go back to Poland. My next time was a visit to Switzerland in 2003 and since that year I have started to stay much longer abroad than in Poland. As I said earlier, in my present job I have been in Germany since 2007. 4. Why did you leave? My friend talked me into it, the one who needed time to pass exams.

 

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My next trip was caused by financial issues. After a few attempts to work in Poland I decided to try to find a job abroad. I do not regret my decision. 5. If you could go back in time – would you leave again or would you stay in the country? If I could go back in time…? I’m sure that I’d do the same – leave Poland. There are many things like a different life, travelling and meeting many great people – I can’t describe it in one sentence. 6. Was it easy to adapt to the new conditions? Honestly? It was easy for me. But I will not forget that I was 22 years old then. For a young human at this age everything seems to be interesting and the person is waiting for adventures… So it wasn’t difficult to adapt to new conditions. What was I missing for? My amazing friends from Poland. I miss mostly our meetings, conversations. Those were the hardest moments. 7. What kind of barriers/difficulties did you have to overcome? The first, and the biggest barrier is of course the language barrier. For me it wasn’t tough, because at school I learnt German. But that was theory in practice it is harder. At the beginning I was prepared with appropriate scope of words and idioms. Without it, it would be much difficult. The next barrier is the different culture and customs. Being abroad you’ll learn this culture and habits from local people. When I was in Switzerland I had to deal with many regional variations of the German language. Also the cuisine is different. Everybody makes the same meal in a different way, and what about foreign cuisine? In Switzerland I liked Raclette and Rosti very much, and of course the regional cheese. Now I live in Schwarzwald region, where there was invented a cuckoo clock and Mercedes and Porsche are produced, and I learn from older people how to cook their local dishes.

 

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8. Would you like to go back for some time/permanently to Poland? Why? I go back to Poland very regularly, and I can see how many thing are changing and I’m happy with that. But go back permanently? Not now. I’ve got a job, a partner, home, and life in Germany. There is also the Polish church, which isn’t only the place of spiritual meetings, but also a place to meet other Poles. We exchange the news, help each other, but also we have arguments – like in everybody’s life. 9. Did you have any problems with communication in a foreign language? Problems are always. It’s not easy to say everything what you want in a foreign language. German comes from a different group of languages, than Polish, so it’s not easy. Many times I simplify my sentences. And I teach my partner my native language – it helps and it gives a lot of fun. 10. Do you like it abroad? I was in many places abroad, but for me Poland is the most beautiful. Sometime we need to leave, to appreciate this what we have. Being abroad makes me open to new places and people. 11. Are you going to stay there forever? It is not easy to answer, because here and in the other places I experienced many beautiful things and made many choices. Now I stay… but forever? I can’t answer this question today. 12. What do you miss most about Poland? I miss most our holidays – Christmas, Easter; our local food – bigos, beetroot soup, sausage and many more. I miss our culture and music. There are some other things that I miss, but that will be my secret…

 

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(Photo 1)

(Photo 2)

(Photo 3)

(Photo 4)

 

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(Photo 5)

(Photo 6)

(Photo 7)

 

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Spain

 

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INTRODUCTION In this booklet we want to show information about migration in Spain. We have tried to gather information and analyse data on the Spanish reality of migration, and then we specify in Madrid, down to the reality of our school in Pozuelo. We want to provide information that can be simple and easily understood, both at school point and beyond. In the first part, we looked at the situation in Spain before entering the European Union, and then we focus on the reality of recent years since the entry in the EU. We believe that migration has changed our society in many ways, and we think this is just the beginning, because our society is in a constant change. In fact, we intend to investigate the phenomenon of migration; we want to make a study of the reality of Spain, Madrid and Pozuelo from an empirical point of view. Special importance given to our school, where we can find an ‘Aula de Enlace’, a classroom designed to gather immigrant students to Madrid who can spend up to six months while they get a good fluency in Spanish and a comprehensive understanding of other subjects. Although the study is local, it claims to have a global sense, to return to the starting point of our work: "Has Europe changed migration or has migration changed Europe ?"

 

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MIGRATIONS IN SPAIN • Before entering the EU The Second World War led to a political isolation in Spain, with regard to the rest of the countries. Franco´s dictatorship impeded our integration into de EEC. With the arrival of democracy and the diplomatic relationships' normalization, the main foreign policy objective was to enter the European Economic Union. The new application was quickly made because the political problems that Europe had always held against our entrance had disappeared. However, it turned out to be more difficult than one might think and after making the request they had to wait for eight years to be admitted, and after tough negotiations and the first socialist government in power, Spain was in. In June 1985 the Treaty of Accession to the European Union was signed. Spain had to accept very hard conditions: the Union demanded long periods of changes for Spanish sectors that were more competitive. Consequently, free movement of workers was not admitted until 1993, until tariffs on agricultural products’ elimination were also extended.

For the EEC entry, a modification (new taxes, financial regulation, remake of customs, consumption, trade, etc.) of a big number of laws and regulations that conform the acquis communautaire (set of rules, international treaties of the Union, the Union's political objectives and the Union experience of all the institutions every candidate country to join the EU must accept before the accession) was necessary.

Later, in full Spanish transition to democracy, the process leading to the entry of Spain into the EEC began. Democracy enabled the incorporation of Spain to the desired approval with the countries of our European environment.

 

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Spain begins, as a foreign policy pillar is the common European values and respect for the dignity of the person. Between 1977 and 1980, Spain ratified the International Covenants on Civil Rights and on Economic and Cultural United Nations, became a member of the Council of Europe and signed the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In 1979 it opened negotiations for the accession of Spain to the European Union. The successful integration of Spain into the European Union has been recognized internationally. The convergence criteria set at Maastricht as essential parameters to the achievement of monetary union assumed the transformation of the Spanish economy in one of the most competitive economies in Europe. Spain is now a country that plays an active role in the process of building the European Union, both in economy and politics. The Government of Spain is set since the primary objective of economic policy to meet these requirements to join the group of countries to integrate, from the outset, the economic and monetary union. On January 1, 1999, Spain adopted the common European currency, along with eleven other EU Member States. Free trade in fruits, vegetables and olive oil was delayed until 1996 and the opportunity to fish in Union fisheries was dated in 2003. Later, in practice, these transition periods were shortened in time. In return, Spain managed long term for the dismantling of tariffs in the industrial sector for the establishment of banking and insurance to the liberalization of fiscal monopolies, such as oil or snuff. Some changes in agriculture and livestock had to be done, as well. This carried out major adjustments in agricultural production to adapt to the Union (production shares). In the fisheries sector catch quotas and modernized the fleet were reduced. To make the Spanish economy competitive, declining inflation and public deficit reduction was essential. Various measures were taken, as the limitation of wage increases and public expenses' control. To

 

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bring Spain closer to other countries, we made a major inversion in the public sector, especially in social policies (education, health, social security) and infrastructures. The increase in public expenses was covered after tax reforms, by generalizing the direct taxes on income and personal wealth and indirect effects on consumption (VAT).

In the 1980's a major industrial restructuring in various sectors (shipbuilding, textile, steel) was made. This resulted in improvements in the management, investment in technology and the professional qualification of workers. It meant the concentration of companies and the closing of those that were not competitive. The fact that reforms were made in crisis, with an unemployment rate of 20%, made some processes especially conflicting.

Notable progress in promoting equality between men and women, the possibilities are open to young people through educational programs such as Comenius, Erasmus and Lingua, the increase in expenditure on R & D, and the improvement of the atmosphere. The integration of Spain into the European Union in 1986 has been a decisive factor for modernizing the Spanish economy, until the arrival of the recent crisis, had not stopped growing.

 

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• After entering the EU o Spain

Spain has changed very much since we entered the European Union. Its migration moved from a deeply emigration country into an immigration one. Since the year 2000 Spain has presented one of the highest percentage of immigration. Our immigrants are distributed around all Spain but mainly crowded in the big cities. We can analyze this distribution in this map. (Graph 1) (Graph 1) Spanish Registered Population Distribution in January 2010

One of the most relevant characteristics in Spanish Migration is our internal one. We can take a look at it in this map, which shows the foreign population registered in Spain in each Autonomous Community.

As we can see, the big communities in the outskirts of Spain are the ones that contain more foreigners, with the exception of Madrid. We

 

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have an order list; at the top we have Catalonia as the most populated one, followed by the Madrid and Valencia Communities. Then we have the Canary Islands and Andalusia. These communities might receive more foreign people than the others, because more workers are required and that is what immigrants are looking for when they come to Spain. This is because no previous qualification is needed for most of the jobs; they can help sailing, in the sea, in the countryside helping with lower qualified activities as farmers or just shop assistants, cleaning assistants, etc.

Pie chart presents the main nationalities of the immigrants. Most of them come from Romania and Morocco while the countries with the smallest percentages are China and Bulgaria. In the cases of Morocco, the UK, Germany and Italy, the reason why there are so many people from those countries living in Spain might be because it’s very close, and then with Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador the reason could be that they don’t need to learn a different language from their native language. (Graph 2)

As we can see, Spain has not changed much since we entered the UE, the most important change might be nowadays, because of our economical crisis we have more immigrants in the city center but fewer in the countryside or rural areas, they find it easy to work in the center now.

 

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(Graph 2)

Foreign population in Spain registered in January 2010

 

Romania

Colombia Bulgaria

Morocco

Bolivia

China

Ecuador Germany

United  Kingdom Italy

Rest

 

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The economy in Spain after entering the EU

Since 1986 Spain has received a total of 78, 131 million euro from the EU. These transfers have been essential for the transformation of the Spanish economy, as they have made it possible to finance a large number of social and regional cohesion projects and infrastructures that have complemented the considerable efforts of the various governments to modernize and build the welfare state. Spain is the country that has made the most effective use of its European funds. From 2007 Spain had to cope with a substantial reduction in these funds since they were allocated primarily to the developing countries, which are significantly poorer than the EU member States.

In 1985, Spain’s unemployment rate was 18% and it almost doubled the European. Twenty years later this figure had fallen to 10.3%, bringing Spanish unemployment down to a level near that of the EU. After falling to 13% in 1990-1991, it reached its highest point (20%) in 1994 and then fell by almost 10 points in 10 years. Catalonia and Madrid have almost full employment. They are to a large extent caused by the low geographic mobility of Spanish workers. Unluckily, the new recession has raised these figures to an unbearable 25% unemployment rate in 2012.

One of the focuses in the modernization of Spanish economy has been the improvement of transport infrastructures, which has made it possible to improve communications, cut transport costs and reduce the price of goods and services. The number of kilometers of motorway and dual carriageway has increased fivefold in the last 20 years. Tourism has been one of the key sectors of the Spanish economy since the 1960s. Even in 1978 it accounted for 9% of GDP, while in 2005 it generated approximately 12% of GDP and 10% of all employment. The total number of tourists has doubled since Spain joined the EU, from 33 million to 66 million per year. This has enabled Spain to consolidate its position as the second tourist destination in the world, after France. Moreover, the income generated by tourism totaled 46,000 million € in 2005.

 

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The society in Spain after joining the EU

In the last 20 years, Spain’s population has grown by more than five and a half million people. Madrid, Andalusia and Catalonia are the three autonomous communities that have experienced the greatest population increases, over 1 million inhabitants in all three cases. These autonomous communities have received less immigration and they have higher levels of emigration. In addition, they are all presently experiencing negative natural growth rates.

The growth of Spanish population has been accompanied by substantial changes to its structure. Firstly, there has been an unprecedented decline in fertility. Secondly, life expectancy has continued to climb significantly and continuously, especially among women. As a result, the base of the pyramid has become much bigger, which represents the older population, has become much

 

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older. The recent growth in immigration has generated a slight increase in Spanish fertility, but this contribution has not had an impact on the shape of first Spain’s population pyramid, which, as in other developed countries, is losing its pyramidal shape and becoming more and more like a tree. (Graph 3)

(Graph 3)

 

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This graphic is really important to understand our way of living as a modern and European society. It compares how we lived before the EU and after its entrance. In the first one we can see that almost nobody had more than one child. The main reason for that was the economical crisis we were boarding those days. Surprisingly, there were more couples with two children than with just one, the percentage of single adults with children was so low because in Spain around those years divorcing was really bad seen, as we neither can see people under 65 living alone those days. The highest number which refers to "other type of household" means in that time young people who lived in the countryside used to go to study to big cities where they didn’t have any family so they used to live in halls of residence in the University.

However, in 2002 everything changed. Nowadays we usually have two children, maybe one or three. The number of single adults with children has increased considerably because of the new divorce law. And it still doesn’t seem normal to see a person over 65 living alone. (Graph 4)

Type  of  household  in  1991 Couple  with  three  or  more  children

Couple  with  two  children

Couple  with  one  child

Couple  without  children

Single  person  aged  65  or  over

Single  person  aged  under  65

Other  type  of  household

Adult  with  one  or  more  children

 

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In the first part of graphic we can see how many Spanish young people went to University between the years 1991 and 2002 in comparison with the global media of the EU map. Before our entrance we meant just a 10% but as our situation has been improving nowadays we have 24,4%, more than EU media. In the second part we can see a percentage of the young people who graduate in Mathematics, Technology and IT. From 1998 to 2000 we had a huge difference with the EU media graduations, but these days our number of graduators is higher, with a 28,1%. (Graph 4)

 

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Politics in Spain after entering the UE

Democratization and European integration have always been closely linked in Spain. Historically, Europeanization was always seen as something that would finally enable Spain to consolidate its democratic institutions and overcome a past marked by divisions, internal conflicts and authoritarianism. Looking back, it is evident that these hopes were well founded given that the democratic period that began with the 1978 Constitution is the longest in Spain’s history. Nevertheless, the data from the Centre for Sociological Research demonstrates that in the last 20 years democracy has been overwhelmingly established as the only feasible option for Spanish society. The solidity of the political culture and democratic preferences of the people of Spain is today unquestionable. Proof of this came in 1994-1995 when the political crisis marked by the end of the cycle of Socialist Party Governments (1982-1996) saw the indicators of satisfaction with the functioning of democracy fall below 40%. Spanish people’s support for the democratic system has been consolidated by Spain’s membership of the EU: in 1984 it was the preferred option for 69% of Spaniards, but this figure rose to more than 84% by 2004. Support for decentralization to the autonomous communities has also continued to grow, rising from 56% to over 74%. (Graph 5)

 

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Decentralization in Spain

Decentralization has posed a challenge of enormous magnitude, the importance of which cannot be underestimated given that, in a very short period of time, the central government has transferred to the autonomous administrations a very significant proportion of its financial and human resources. In 1979 the General State Administration managed 91% of public spending. It is therefore possible to declare without any doubt that the autonomous system established in the 1978 Constitution has made it possible to deal with the territorial issue within margins characterized by efficiency, respect for identities and support of the citizens. This is reflected in the data of the Centre for Sociological Research, which demonstrates public support for, and overwhelming satisfaction with, the recent process of decentralization.

o Madrid

Madrid is one of the most special cities in Spain. Why? It has the biggest mixture of cultures. It has the power of continually bringing you to different places. You can walk all around its streets and find people from anywhere. I’m not just talking about how people from other parts of Spain have moved to Madrid because of its jobs and its international influence. We mean of how people from all around Europe, and other continents come to Madrid mostly because it’s one of the most important commerce centers of the world. It has good transport, facilities, good offer of restaurants and services, jobs, people’s trade, nice weather, good and mixed food, this is what mainly makes immigrants stay and feel integrate. (Graph 6)

 

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Foreign Population (January 2010-2011)

17%

9%51%

12%4% 7%

Metropolitan  North  Area

 Metropolitan  S outh  Area

 Metropolitan  E as t  Area

 Metropolitan  Wes t  Area

Munic ipality  of  Madrid

No  metropolitanmunic ipalities

(Graph 6) In these graphic, we can see how the immigrant population in the Madrid community has increased for over four million in the last four years. This can be the result of an economic expansion in our community or because immigrants have problems in their countries. Areas like the East have had an important progress in their immigrant population but the others are nowadays in the same proportion as they were in 2006. Now immigration has been stopped for a while because of our economic crisis, which provokes a high rate of unemployment, and in their own countries they can have a job with less money. Here we have another one, where we can learn how the diverse cultures spread over different areas in our community. We can see that the number of immigrants we have the most in our country are people from Romania and there are fewer people from Peru. Also, we can see the differences between the races and the way in which they’re spread. The immigration is mostly represented by people from South America and Africa like we can see in our graphic. The

 

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south area is very important because we can see that in that place there is a mixture of various different nationalities. (Graph 7)

(Graph 7)

Madrid has been the capital of Spain since July the 12th 1561. Because of it, Madrid contains the Government's seat, Parliament, and also all the ministries and institutions which have to be with it, and the Royal Palace. It’s also the biggest city and the most populated in the country.

2006 marked 20 years since we entered the EU and because of that now we can compare how this entrance has changed almost everything in our country, and here, in our city. Here we have how we have grown up in wealth, what has increased the most is the GDP (Gross Domestic Product). We´ve also got an important income convergence regarding the EU´s. The economic relationships between Madrid and the rest of the EU have also experimented a spectacular commercial opening-up. The

01000020000300004000050000600007000080000

Romania Morocco Ecuator Colombia Peru Rest  ofnacionalities

Foreigners in Madrid

North South

East West

 

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public cost, public accounts, tourism, outside financing need and also high technology exports have risen up since our entrance. Furthermore, the investigation and the development of our economic have suffered many changes during these two decades.

(Graph 8)

This graphic shows how we receive more than we contribute. Now it should be because of the economical crisis we have been have since 2008, and how the EU is trying to help us get out of it. Also because of the contributions the EU gave us when we entered. (Graph 8)

Over the last 20 years the Spanish population has increased more than 5 and a half million. Due to the natural development, the difference between births and deaths has maintained below 60.000 people per year we must attribute most of this growth to the development of the immigration. Madrid is the city that has suffered more changes in relation with the population, more than a million people.

 

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Most of the demography’s changes of the Spanish society are related to the evolution of migration’s movements, which started because of the Spanish entrance in the EU. Madrid means one of the Autonomous Community that has now a big migratory movement in relation with Europe. Madrid, as the capital of Spain, has been traditionally an immigrant community, the town halls have registered more than three million and a half foreigners, that means more than 8% of the population. As in 1996 the foreigners meant less than 540.000, our entrance has meant more than three million of immigrants. (Graph 9)

 

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In this graphic we can see two things. First, Spain is the country which in 2002 had a bigger number of migration whereas in 1992 it was Germany. Secondly, we have the foreigner population all around Spain. Madrid has the highest number of immigrants with 2579,20 for each 100.000 inhabitants, as in Madrid we are 3.265.038 population, which means 84211,86 foreigners. (Graph 9) As a conclusion for this data we could say that Madrid needed that entrance to the EU and that was what made us improve and get better in relation to rest of European capitals.

o Pozuelo de Alarcón

Pozuelo is a town located in the west of the capital of Spain, Madrid. The area of Pozuelo de Alarcón is 43, 2 km and its altitude above the sea level is 690 m. According to the statistics made in January 2011, 82933 people live in this municipality. It’s a residential town and the wealthiest in Spain, but it hasn’t always been this way. Before the 19th century, people in Pozuelo worked in agriculture, stockbreeding and tanned hide industry. Its demographic increase started from the establishment, as their first residence, of those families who had a second residence in Pozuelo. Because of its quality of life and its proximity to the capital, Madrid, the population of Pozuelo started to grow until it became one of the most important population cores in the North West area of the Autonomous Community. The demographic curve of this town follows an ascending direction during the 20th century, with the exception of the years right after the Civil War (1936-1939). But, from 1950 on the population recovered and increased intensely. Although Pozuelo is not one of the favorite destinations for immigrants who come to Madrid, and the number of immigrants has

 

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recently decreased because of the economical crisis, nowadays there are quite a lot of them. To help immigrants integrate in our society, we have an “Aula de Enlace”, which is a special class in schools where people who come to Spain from other countries learn our language and get used to our educational system until they are ready to join a regular class. There used to be two of them in Pozuelo, but because there are not as many immigrants as there used to be some years ago, nowadays there is only one. People in Pozuelo are really welcoming with immigrants. There are not many racist people in this town and, actually, there are very few people who are not friendly with any foreign person. We are getting used to seeing people from other countries around us, and that is why it has become something normal. We could say that having different cultures and nationalities coexisting in our town makes it better in many ways. Doing some research about Pozuelo, we have found that the State also supports foreigners, and also provides them help so that they can feel well accepted.

Now, we are going to show some graphics with useful and interesting information about migrations in Pozuelo.

In this graphic we can see how the amount of Spanish people and foreigners in different places from Madrid has been changing during the last couple of years. The Spanish population has in general increased in most of the places and the foreign population has decreased in all the places. This is probably due to the economical crisis Spain is in or, maybe, to the development of other countries comparing to Spain.

 

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(Graph 10)

This graphic shows the relation between immigrants, men and women, who are registered in each of the towns in the West part of Madrid. We appreciate a higher female population, 54% of the total of both, and also shows how towns like Collado Villalba, Majadahonda and Las Rozas, are the first three towns showing the largest number of immigrants registered in the west part. The average per town is about 6,622 foreign people. (Graph 10)

Foreign population registered in Pozuelo    

 

In respect to Pozuelo de Alarcón, the graphic shows that it is slightly above of the average (8202 compared to 6622), 23% more than this average, but it keeps the higher female population, a 59% of the total municipal population, very similar to the 54% of the average.

MEN WOMEN

TOTAL 30.205 36.018

01  0002  0003  0004  0005  0006  0007  0008  000

Boadilla

Brunete

Collado  Villalba

Galapagar

Majadahonda

Pozuelo  de  Alarcón

Las  Rozas

Villanueva  de  la  cañada

Villanueva  de  pardillo

Villaviciosa  de  Odón

Men

Women

 

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Foreign population registered in Pozuelo, Madrid and the Community.

The graphic shows that the number of foreign people living in Pozuelo is insignificant comparing to the capital Madrid. Its proximity to the city could influence enough, but for some reasons like the cost of living, the easily of getting a job and a wide range of choices in urban transport, Pozuelo is not a popular town to live among the foreigners. (Graph 11)

(Graph 11)

020000040000060000080000010000001200000

Foreignersin  Pozuelo

Foreignersin    Madrid

Foreignersin  tota l

Foreigners  inPozueloForeigners  in  MadridForeigners  intotal

557.181  (50,49%)

8.202  (0,74%)

1.103.470

 

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• Spanish migrations with Germany and Poland

As you can see in this graphic, the amount of German and Polish immigrants has increased in the last few years. (Graph 12)

(Graph 12)

o Spain and Poland

In the present research a lot of data are shown related to the relations between Spain and Poland before and after entering Poland in the EU. From my point of view, the enclosed testimonial (Joanna’s letter) represents in depth a feeling of a human being regarding the subject.

Testimonial

Joana is a Pole who lives in Spain.

Dear Jaime,

It makes me really happy the fact of sharing with you my senses and reflections about the access and continuity of Poland in the EU as a new socioeconomic partner among the different European countries.

Immigrants (2012)

0

100000

200000

300000

Germany Poland

Immigrants

 

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Poland means 38.482.919 Polish citizens living in Poland. But we do not forget that more than 5.000.000 Polish belong to the active emigration, and are voters to parliament and senate, and even actively develop the Polish culture and language.

I am one out of those 5 million, part of the active national and cultural Polish emigration living in Spain. Why Spain? My husband is Spanish!

I have lived in Madrid since 1999, since last century! I arrived once I finished my degree in Civil Engineering at Wroclaw University. A young person looking for her place in the world. At the very beginning, everything was very difficult: the recognition of my degree, translation of the degree title, legislation and new documents, learning the new language…post-grade studies…and my first CV!

Two countries, a lot of bureaucracy… But, after entering the EU, all those processes became easier. We have a unique National Identity Card, general Erasmus practice. And all thanks to EU Agreements and Treats related to the universities (Ex. Bolonia Plan)

In my opinion, and based on my work experience, there also an exchange of trainees exist among the companies. I have always thought that this might be an unreachable dream!

Also agreements related to culture exist, so I got to know Sorolla or Miró due to this fact at Polish art galleries.

Emigration relations have also created new daily air connections between different Spanish and Polish cities.

We have also learnt good soccer from Europeans and we will see a great EURO 2012 organization. You are invited.

With love,

Joanna

 

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A major investment effort from Spain in Poland is due to a higher general “per capita income” and economical capacity, although a considerable reduction has occurred due to crisis time. Before the entrance of Poland to the EU, the relation with Spain in this regard was very limited, focusing Poland its investments on the former USSR satellite countries. (Graph 13) (Graph 13)

o Spain and Germany

Germany was the European country in fashion at the 50´s and 60´s for Spanish workers looking for a better future. At that time and even more nowadays, Germany has been and still is the social and economical European engine.

These two graphics represent an example of the migration relations between Spain and Germany after our entry to the EU. From the beginning and stabilization process started showing a slight positive balance for Germany. The German emigrant profile is of a multinational company employee and retired people with real estate properties in Spain. (Graph 14, 15)

Investment between Spain/Poland (2010)

0

100  000  000

200  000  000

300  000  000

Spain Poland

Investment

 

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(Graph 15)

Before entering the EU the migration movements were massively in favour of Spain. The Spanish emigrant profile shows a worker looking for a job and a better future.

Economic relations

Imports/Exports between them (2010)

Since Spain entered the EU, its relation with Germany has radically changed and started to increase. Nowadays, Germany is the second most important country for Spain in exports and it is the most important one for Spain in imports.

As we can see in this graphic, Spain exports less than it imports, which is favourable for Germany but this Spanish deficit is equilibrated with the Germans tourism in Spain.

According to the investment of each country in the other one, Germany invested 480 million euros in Spain in 2010 while Spain invested 76 million euros in Germany.

 

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THE REALITY OF OUR SCHOOL • Aula de Enlace

The ‘‘Aula de Enlace’’ is a specific classroom for foreign students, which helps them to learn the Spanish language and perform their social skills. It also introduces them into the Spanish education system. In those classes, there are around 8 to 12 students that come from different countries.

This class in our school has been going on since 2002-2003, and the number of students has been increasing each year,  although in recent years has fallen due to the crisis.

Here we have some of the researches we made about our foreign students. (Graph 16, 17)

(Graph 16)

1. COUNTRIES

05101520253035

Romania

Morocco

Dominican  Rep.Iran

Greece

Portugal

FilipinasChina

Angola

BelgiumInd

iaKoreaBrazil

Ukraine

France

Holand

Iceland

 

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2. GENDER and AGE at which they start in the class (Graph 17)

   

COURSE 2011-2012 This year, there are a total of twelve students in the class. At ages between seven and sixteen years old and from many countries such as Poland, Romania, China… We can tell you something about some of them: Alex, Raluca and Cosmina. They are siblings from Romania, they came to Spain because their parents wanted to get a better job in our country. They are quite well integrated and they don´t have many problems with our culture and language. Xing Lei She is a teenager from China and also came to Spain because of her parents, but she is having some difficulties with the language. Despite this fact, she would like to speak better and be more outgoing.

AGES

Early  years

12-­‐14  years

15-­‐18  years

Unknown  ages

0

20

40

60

Men Women

SEX

 

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Victoria She is fifteen, and she’s Brazilian. Victoria has a very good level of the Spanish language and she came here because her parents wanted her to get a better education and future. She sometimes misses her country because she cannot return before staying two years in Spain. Irene She’s twelve years old and she comes from Nepal. A Spanish family hosted her because her natural parents could not maintain her and her many brothers and sisters. She is really extroverted and she speaks very good Spanish. Yarmin He is from Cabo Verde and he is seven. Yarmin came to Spain because of one of the most typical reasons: his parents got a job here. He is a little bit shy and does not speak too much, but he can understand everything you tell him. Mieshko His story is different from others. He was born in Poland but he lived a long time in Hawaii, so he speaks many languages. He came here because his father works in the UN. He is very outgoing.

The meeting (23rd of May, 2012) The 23rd of May, all the Spanish students members of the Comenius Project prepared an activity with all the “Aula de Enlace” students and ex-students (that are now in regular classrooms), to get to know things like: why they came to Spain, where they were from, and also something about their different cultures and languages. Firstly, we made a little game with a ball to get to know and learn our names and ages. At the beginning it was a bit confusing, but we ended up learning all the names. Then, we made different groups to interview them and be interviewed. We talked for a while with all and each of them. Finally, we did a survey that our foreign students completed whose results will be shown later.

 

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Before saying goodbye and leaving we had lunch all together. Everyone brought something typical from his/her own country. There were many different dishes to eat and taste. It was a great experience and we learnt a lot from other cultures, but the most important thing was to learn about the real experiences of immigrants in our country, and we realized that behind any nationality there is a teenager like us, with the same worries and feelings. Yes, we have some differences because of our culture or religion but, anyway, what unites us is stronger than what separates us.

 

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• Surveys and Results With the intention to have more knowledge about what people of our school environment thought about the immigration, we made two surveys. They were made in an easy way, so it will be better to have easy information and most people would be able to understand it. The surveys were delivered to the families and to the students between thirteen and eighteen years old. After they were replied and given back to us, we analyzed the answers and extracted the most useful and interesting information, which you can see down below. We have copied some of the most representative questions and shown the results in graphics. This information is very important because it shows in a very good way that people come either from South America because of the language, or from Europe because of proximity.

Students survey results

(Graphs 18-21)

What is the reason why they decided to come to Spain?

Economic

Cultural

Politic

Others

 

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Have you ever had any immigrant friend outside school?

Do you think that our society rejects immigrants?

Yes

No

YesNo

 

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Why does our society reject immigrants?

 

With these graphics and this amount of information, we can say that students do not have prejudices towards immigrants and they accept them. They think immigrants come here by need, and that they do not have a very big influence on our culture and the way of life. Most of them have immigrant friends, but think that our society still rejects immigrant people. So despite the environment young people are open and tolerant towards immigration.

Family survey results We decided to interview the families of our classmates because we believe they have more experience and information about immigration. They were very happy because they think this project is good for the school, and also because it will create a future society more just and equal. We have found that relatives who emigrated in the past to another country had difficulties especially with the language. Today, these difficulties have declined due to young people knowing more English than our parents. Difficulties founded when you live in another country.  

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Other

Economic  level

Different  culture

Racism

 

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(Graphs 22-25)

Do you think immigration is beneficial to our country?

For which reasons do you think immigration is beneficial to our country?

 

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Yes No

If you answered NO, why do you think immigration is not good?

Do you think immigrants have the same employment opportunities as Spanish?

“Aula de Enlace” survey results

 

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YesNo

Yes

No

Yes

No

We also made a simple survey to our immigrant students from the “Aula de Enlace” to see the degree of integration into Spanish society. (Graphs 26-29) Do you have Spanish friends? Do you want to live in Spain in the future? Do you understand and use Spanish in your daily life? This survey helped us to get to know more about the immigrant people in our school, and we discovered that step-by-step they are

 

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getting adapted to our Spanish traditions. It is a good thing that most of them have Spanish friends, however some of them want to go to their country back because they miss it a lot.

 

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• CHALLENGES One of the questions we have asked ourselves in connection to the project is: How can we face from school the problems of an increasingly multicultural society in which we live? We have tried to answer this question because we believe that education has a lot to do with shaping the future society and many challenges.

Our first goal was to get to know better our school and improve it as much as possible. In this sense, we have been doing some activities with the foreign students from the ‘Aula de Enlace’ in order to learn more about their lives, have a better understanding of their circumstances and the reality of immigration in our school. Through games and dialogue we have made a cultural exchange that has been very rewarding. It was a great experience because we have got to know each other more closely and have realized their true reality in our school. After that, we made a presentation of the project for our classmates. We told them, as well, about our visits and journeys through Germany and Poland, including the concentration camp of Madjanek, and finally about the ‘Aula de Enlace’. To face the problem of migration from school we intend to address this issue at least from the subjects of English, History and Ethics as a part of the curriculum. Making projects together we want to transmit the importance of studying and learning multicultural values that respect and promote dialogue and relationships with people from different cultures, races and religions. We have already prepared a display where we have collected the most important information so that people can look at it. But we want to involve the whole school into the project; we want the school to know and work with us on what we are doing. Before starting the course we informed all teachers about the project. At the end of each year we will show them all activities we have done and try to make them aware that it is worth. Apart from our school we want to spread the project to the city of Pozuelo, so almost

 

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everybody will know about our work. We will give some copies of the booklet and the film to the City Hall. Finally, the project also helped ourselves to be closer to the other schools and with people from different countries. As well, the students members of Comenius have created a group on Facebook, where we talk and share our experiences about our meetings and experiences, contributing a little from our individual reality to build a better Europe, more tolerant, open minded and humane.

 

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• Conclusions

The ‘Aula de Enlace’ at our school is one of the pillars to study the phenomenon of immigration in Pozuelo and its surroundings. With the data provided about the number of immigrants who have been in that classroom, we corroborate that the majority of immigration arrivals in Spain has come from the countries of Eastern Europe and South America, although for years, in Spain we have also noticed an increase in immigrants coming from Eastern Asia. This year has seen a considerable decline in the number of students in ‘Aula de Enlace’ due to the economic crisis affecting Europe, but especially Spain. With the lack of employment immigrants have preferred other destinations.

The other pillar that we used for the study of immigration in our school has been a survey among all families and students at the school between 12-17 years old.

For most respondents, immigrants to Spain come out of necessity, so they are job seekers. For the same reason, for most respondents, the arrival of immigrants is decreasing due to the lack of employment, and thus they prefer other destinations.

In the reality of our school, a large number of respondents seem sensitive to immigration, as most believe that it has been hard for immigrants to get here. Besides, they have adapted well to the customs and life in our country. The reality of immigration is relatively new in Spain, but today, a large number of our students claim to know or be friends with students from abroad, and although it is thought that they are treated well, most people think that if immigrants come to have a problem in our country to adapt, it is racially motivated. We believe that the best way to solve the problems that our society has, not only the reality that affects our environment / school / town / but throughout the EU is through the knowledge of other cultures, getting in contact with the new

 

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without fears, opening to any new development in our area, definitely not fearing the unknown, seeing it as harmful or foreign. But looking at it as something new from which to learn, and we believe the first place where it should and can take place is at school, educating open-minded young people, no matter their origin, we will make our society multicultural, and the world certainly a better place, where we all have our space and the right to be happy.

 

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Media

 

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Three schools from three different countries (Germany, Spain and Poland) have come together to work on a project to explore the questions, "Has Europe changed migration, or has migration changed Europe?". In order to answer the first question, each school will investigate specific national issues related to how European integration has changed migration. To do this, we intend to take both an empirical and creative approach: on the one hand, pupils (age 15-17) will research this topic within their local community, presenting their findings on an especially dedicated website as well as in an information booklet.

 

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W dniach 16-20 listopada 2011 r. siedem przedstawicieli z I LO w Chełmie wraz z opiekunami – p. Renatą Jóźwiak, p. Teresą Kiwińską oraz p. Aldoną Klejmont uczestniczyło w międzynarodowych warsztatach w Pfarrwiesengymnasium w Sindelfingen w Niemczech.

Pięciodniowy wyjazd do Niemiec obył się w ramach projektu Comenius zajmującego się następującym zagadnieniem: “Czy Europa zmieniła migrację, czy migracja zmieniła Europę?”. Uczniowie trzech europejskich szkół – z Hiszpanii, Niemiec oraz z Polski wspólnie debatowali nad problemem przemieszczeń ludności, prezentując swoje stanowiska na ten temat, omawiali wpływ zjawiska migracji na zmiany społeczne i kulturalne na terenie tych trzech państw oraz przedstawiali wyniki swojej pracy w formie prezentacji multimedialnej oraz plakatów.

- “Praca w międzynarodowych grupach była ciekawym doświadczeniem, które pozwoliło nam wykazać się wiedzą historyczną, jak i umiejętnością komunikacji oraz współpracy posługując się językiem angielskim” – mówi jedna z uczestniczek wyjazdu – Ania Wroniecka z I LO.

W czasie pobytu w Sindelfingen uczniowie zaprezentowali wykonany przez siebie film “W krainie Białego Niedźwiedzia” promujący swoje miasto. Spotkanie było także szansą na zawiązanie nowych znajomości. Warto również dodać, iż uczniowie podczas wyjazdu mieszkali u niemieckich rodzin.

- “W rodzinie, w której mieszkałem czułem się jak we własnym domu. Czas spędzony w Sindelfingen uważam za wspaniały i wyjątkowy” dodaje Rafał Szwedo.

Teraz uczniowie cierpliwie oczekują wizyty swoich niemieckich i hiszpańskich przyjaciół w maju przyszłego roku.

http://chelmnews.pl/2011/12/czarniecczycy-sindelfingen/

 

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Wizyta Hiszpanów i Niemców w ramach projektu Comenius

W dniach 8 – 13 maja tego roku odbyło się drugie z kolei spotkanie uczestników międzynarodowego projektu Comenius. W Chełmie gościli uczniowie wraz z nauczycielami ze szkół: z Sindelfingen w Niemczech i z Pozuelo w Hiszpanii. Wraz z Czarniecczykami starają się odpowiedzieć na pytanie: „Czy Europa zmieniła migracje, czy migracje zmieniły Europę?”. Młodzież z 3 krajów przedstawiła swoją dotychczasową pracę podczas warsztatów, odbywających się w I LO. Oczywiście znalazł się też czas na zwiedzanie Chełma. W ramach tej wizyty, odwiedzili również Majdanek w Lublinie oraz pojechali do Lwowa. Po tych kilku dniach spędzonych w Chełmie, nadeszła smutna chwila pożegnania, zakończona wspólną fotografią. Na szczęście zostało wiele pamiątkowych zdjęć, a pod koniec września wszyscy zobaczą się ponownie. Tym razem w gorącej Hiszpanii.

 

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Conclusions

The best conclusion of this booklet will be the statements of the project participants both teachers and students. Let us quote some… “(…)I am happy because I have made good friends. I also have learnt to work in groups and talk in public. I have improved my English, too.” Pilar Fernandez “I find this project really useful as I have never thought about migrations in Europe, it was obvious that people migrate and thanks to this project I could look into the matter. I have met other cultures and my English is better now. “ Ola Jagodzińska “In my opinion this experience has been very good for our knowledge, for our abilities to cooperate with other cultures and for getting to know very interesting places.” Sofia Arroyo “ Awe-inspiring experience which will last in our memories forever due to its showing everybody how different and similar at the same time students and teachers from different countries are!” Monika Skrzypczak “I really liked these meetings because I learnt (…) more about the immigrants. I learnt some words of the Polish language and more about immigration and emigration. I think people will be closre to each other now.” Jose Molina Gomez “Being to Majdanek is something I will never forget. It makes me realize how an idea can easily spread when supported by the right

 

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number of people-followers. It shows that prejudices can go as far as killing others because they belong to a certain ethnic group, follow an unknown religion or support a different political party.” Miguel Morales “This project was a great idea. I have learnt a lot of things about migration and other cultures so far. I have met amazing people and had a lot of fun” Justyna Świetlicka “The project is good for getting experience and making new friends.” Julia Alex “We’ve learnt a lot about Poland, which none of the Spanish knew, we’ve learnt things about its culture and society. The places we visited were really interesting, especially the concentration camp in Majdanek. Definitely, spending time with people from other cultures is a GREAT EXPERIENCE!” Rocio Medina “ Comenius project has been a great experience for me as I have learnt a lot of interesting things, met many interesting people and could participate in well-organised workshops” Michał Karpiuk “It is great that we can meet that often out of school in different countries. I had a lot of fun because all the students participated in workshops and had fun, too.” Nico Hamann “I have improved my speaking skills by presenting different things we have made with other people. I have enjoyed my stay in Poland. This week was great and the work we did was interesting.” Jaime Garcia-Oliveros

 

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“ I think our time in Poland was very good. We spent a wonderful time together here while working as well as having fun. We met again great people and got to know them and their cultures more.” Maria Chybiak “ I think it was good to meet everyone again and be able to talk to them again. It makes much better atmosphere for the project. Also to see a Polish school was an interesting aspect.” Sina Becker “I have learnt how to adapt to different situations and how to face problems in a different way, we are all different but it’s OK. As friends or mates we are together and I find this experience awesome. As classmates we have learnt how to do many tasks in a short time.” Maria Albillos “It’s very cool to meet old-new people and their cultures. I really liked the trip to Poland.” Ilayda Dogan “There is nothing greater and more beautiful than seeing different people and languages cooperating and understanding.” Apuleyo Soto “It’s great to get to know more about migration along with other teenagers from different countries. I loved working in international groups (…)” Lina Breitenbuerger “The thing that I have learnt is communicating with other people, being “more open” to different ideas and becoming more confident of myself. I definitely made great friends.” Rebeca Calvache “Comenius project is a great experience for me. With every meeting I’m learning more and more about our world. Besides, I have met a lot of great people and these friendships will last even after finishing

 

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our project.” Anna Wroniecka “I really love this project. It’s an amazing possibility to get to know new cultures and find new friends from all over Europe.” Helen Sigel “All in all it’s really great and interesting. It’s always fun to travel to other cities and countries. Every time we meet I can learn more and more about our three counties.” Kaltrin Maliqi “During the project I have met new people and learnt a lot about European migrations and migrants. I have practiced my English and improved my organizing skills.” Rafał Szwedo “ Such projects are great as they make it possible to improve mutual understanding.” Matthias Cleiss “I feel unspeakable joy seeing how interpersonal relations develop between students taking part in this project and how Poland is perceived by both students and teachers, the stereotypes do not seem to exist any more. It is amazing how we can observe the fruits of our work listening to our students speaking good English and presenting the results of their own research. And last but not least we can see what the European Union and Schengen Agreement have given to us all.” Aldona Klejmont

 

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