HEALTH minister Salvador Illa has raised concerns about the 'Black Lives Matter' protests in Spain, but says he admires the sentiment behind them.
Gatherings in Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia and elsewhere in the country have been taking place in the past week, with manifestos read out and demonstrators going down on one knee with a fist raised – the international anti-racism posture.
The death of 46-year-old black American civilian George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, USA has sparked protests worldwide, despite the pandemic – in Madrid alone, around 3,000 people marched through the streets carrying banners.
Illa says: “Despite my profound respect for any democratic demonstration, I want to remind you all that the virus is still out there and to ask for those who demonstrate to act responsibly.”
Most of the footage of the 'Black Lives Matter' protests seems to show members of the public wearing masks and keeping at least 1.5 metres apart, but in some cases during these and other demonstrations – such as the one convened by far-right Vox against Spain's government and its decision to put the country in lockdown – pictures have shown protesters getting too close to each other.
Spain's black population is, statistically, very small, especially in comparison with that of the USA or Spain's neighbouring nations, Portugal, France and the UK.
Some are originally from the only sub-Saharan African country which was a Spanish colony – Equatorial Guinea – and the majority of the black community in Spain, according to ethnographic studies, are first-generation Africans.
They are typically Senegalese, Nigerian and Gambian, although other countries south of the Sahara are represented due to Spain's being one of the main entry points to Europe and the only European country sharing a land border with the African continent.
'Ethnic minorities' in Spain are commonplace, although most of these are from Asia, particularly China and the formerly-Spanish Philippines (around 6%) as well as Pakistan; north African nations such as Morocco and Algeria (some 18%), and Latin America (over 36%).
Only around 21% of the immigrant population is of European origin, of whom about 54% are from western and south-western Europe and the rest, from eastern and north-eastern Europe, including Russia and the Baltic States.
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