Spain's Muslims Face Discrimination, Not Attacks
By Lisa Bryant
More than six months after Islamist radicals staged Spain's worst terrorist attack, Muslims living in the Mediterranean country say they have faced no major backlash. But that does not mean discrimination does not exist in Spain. Lisa Bryant reports from Madrid on new efforts by the country's Socialist government to build bridges with the Muslim community.
Sunday is shopping day for many Madrid citizens and tourists, who flock in droves to a colorful outdoor city market called el Rastro. The atmosphere along the narrow packed streets is festive, and the jumble of stalls offer everything from secondhand clothes to lamps and pottery from North Africa.
Like many other merchants here, 48-year-old carpet seller Mohammed Assal is from Morocco. He moved to Spain three-years ago.
Mr. Assal says it is hard being a legal immigrant in Spain. It is expensive to live here and he admits, he faces a certain amount of discrimination. But he says there are good and bad people all over the world.
Mr. Assal is among an estimated 800,000 Muslims living in Spain. Many are from North Africa. They have come under unusually close scrutiny since the March 11 terrorist bombings in Madrid. Islamic extremists were blamed for the blasts, which killed 191 people and injured hundreds of others.
But human-rights activists like immigration expert Virginia Alvarez, of Amnesty International, say the country's Muslim community has escaped major attacks in retaliation for the Madrid bombings.
"I think the victims of this tragedy reacted very well. Because they did not blame the Muslim community," Ms. Alvarez says.
But Mohamed El Afifi Mohamed, spokesman for Madrid's main mosque, says Spaniards are more suspicious of Muslims since the March 11th bombings.
Mr. Mohamed says Spaniards need to be persuaded that Islam and Muslims are not dangerous.
Negative views of Muslims in Spain stretch back centuries, to the time when Moors ruled the country. They were expelled in 1492.
The latest wave of Muslims settled in Spain in the past few decades. Many once viewed Spain as a transit point to wealthier parts of Europe. Now they are staying, thanks to Spain's recent economic boom, and to tougher immigration laws elsewhere.
Mustapha El MRabet, president of the Association of Moroccan Workers and Immigrants in Spain, lists a number of problems facing this foreign-born community.
He says Muslim immigrants have a hard time finding work and acquiring legal status in Spain. Many are poorly educated, and speak no Spanish. He says a number of illegal workers are also exploited by their employers.
Moroccans and other Muslims represent only a small part of Spain's immigrant population. The majority are from Latin America. They are generally more accepted by Spaniards, experts say, since they share the same language and Catholic religion.
By contrast, some Spaniards like 36-year-old Jesus Lopez view Muslims living in Spain with hostility.
Mr. Lopez is a construction worker in Madrid. He believes the government should crack down on Muslim immigrants. Right now, he says, they are given too many rights.
The new government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero aims to change anti-Muslim sentiments like those expressed by Mr. Lopez.
The state is encouraging public-television stations to air documentaries about the country's Muslim community. More broadly, Mr. Zapatero talks about opening a dialogue between Islamic countries and the Western world.
And while the government announced it would step up scrutiny of potentially radical Muslim preachers and mosques in Spain, it has also proposed new initiatives to better integrate Muslims into Spanish society. That includes improving dialogue with Islamic leaders and setting up a foundation to finance projects benefiting the country's Muslims, as well as its Jewish and Protestant communities.
Bernabe Lopez Garcia is a professor of modern Islam at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He credits Mr. Zapateros government for improving the dialogue between the Muslim community and the state.
Muslim leaders have also given the new leftist government high marks. They say Spain needs its new immigrant population. Over time, they hope ordinary Spaniards will reach that conclusion as well.

Lisa Bryant, for VOA news, Madrid.

注释：
discrimination 歧视
Madrid马德里(西班牙首都)
flock in 成群结队涌到
el Rastro 跳蚤市场
festive喜庆的, 欢乐的
the jumble of stalls 杂货摊
pottery 陶器
Morocco摩洛哥
scrutiny详细审查
retaliation 报复, 报仇
mosque 清真寺
Moor摩尔人(非洲西北部伊斯兰教民族)
expel 驱逐, 开除
crack down on 制裁, 镇压