Spain's history has seen two types of migration, one moving inside the country and one moving outside.

Inside Spain (mainly in the past century) movements have been, from the country to the towns, particularly to big industrial towns. For instance, between 1950 and 1970, more than half a million people moved from the rural southern regions of Spain to Catalonia (mainly to Barcelona). External migration is much older.

From a country of emigration...

Have a look at these figures:

Dates	Number of people	Where did they go?
1882 - 1896	360,000	South and Central America
1901 - 1910	100,000 per year (many from Galicia, so all Spanish immigrants are called "Gallegos")	Mainly Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay and Brazil
1939-1975	Franco's dictatorship meant that migration to the Americas decreased.
1959 onwards	Uncertain, but in 1994 1.6 million Spaniards living abroad, far more than foreigners living in Spain	Northern Europe
1960 - 1973	Between 1 and 3,000,000	Mainly Germany, France, Switzerland, Britain and The Netherlands

...to one of immigration

Due to the closure of frontiers and the establishment of restrictive migratory policies in other European countries, particularly in France and Italy, the sixties saw the arrival in Spain of an important number of northern Africans (mainly Moroccans) who were seeking work.

The closure of north American frontiers also meant an influx of Philippine and Latin American people to Spain; Latin Americans were forced to leave by the military dictatorships, especially in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Until 1972, however, immigrants were mainly single men, and it was not until 1986 that family groups began to arrive to Spain.

Statistics regarding the number of foreigners living in Spain vary substantially depending both on the source used, and on the difficulty in knowing the numbers of those who enter Spain 'illegally' or, as others prefer to say, 'irregularly'.

According to the official statistics on foreigners with residence permits (see Anuario Estadístico de Extranjería, 2000) (data of December 31, 2000), Spain was home to 895,720, of whom 361,437 were Europeans, especially British (76,402) and Germans (60,828); 261,385 were Africans, mainly Moroccans (161,870). Although the total number of foreigners with residence permits make a number of 895,720, in the chart below we have only indicated some of the countries with the highest number of immigrants for each continent, as well as the stateless.

The greater proportion of immigrants in Spain is located in six of the seventeen Spanish Autonomous Communities (Catalonia, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, Valencia, Andalousia and Madrid), which also house 61.6% of the native population of Spain. 52.8% of the immigrant population is concentrated in Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante and Málaga. Nonetheless, the number of immigrants is also increasing in all the other parts of Spain.

Researchers estimated in 1996 the number of foreigners living in Spain to be 800,000 (about 2% of the total population -mainly retired people living in the south and south east coasts of Spain), being half from the Third World and half from European countries or North America. We believe that, if we count both legal and illegal immigration, at the end of December 2002 around 1,600,000 foreigners will be living in Spain (about 3.8% of the total population).

Despite the Spanish Constitutional Law (December 27th, 1978) and the "Ley Orgánica de Extranjería" (General Law for Foreigners) (1985), the "Human Fundamental Rights of Foreigners Association" (1987) published a document claiming that levels of racism in Spain were high although Spanish people did not realize they had racist attitudes, especially towards Gypsies and Black-Africans. Research into perceptions/attitudes of Spanish youth undertaken in Spain by Tomás Calvo-Buezas in 1986, 1993, 1997 and 2000, showed that prejudice, xenophobia, and even racism, against Spanish Gypsies, 'Moors-Arabs', and Black Africans was quite significant. This negative attitude grew between 1986 and 1993, decreasing slightly in 1997 And rising again in 2000. Calvo-Buezas noted that, although between 1986 and 1993 racist attitudes grew among young Spanish people, an attitude of solidarity had also emerged. As such, more youths belong to Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). These and further reflections can be found in his book of 1995: Crece el racismo, también la solidaridad. Los valores de la juventud en el umbral del siglo XXI.

Furthermore, a conflict exists in Spain, particularly in some autonomous Communities or regions. On the one hand, there is a current trend to consolidate the cultural and linguistic identities of these communities (mainly in the Basque Country, Galicia and Catalonia), while, on the other, there is a population increase through immigration and internal mobility.

Although a number of intercultural education programs are taking place all over Spain (mainly in Catalonia and Madrid), it has to be said that racism and xenophobia are exacerbated by more immigrants entering the country and a general commitment to intercultural education does not exist as a national priority. All this despite the recommendations of the Solemn Declaration of Intent for Unity signed by Heads of State and Governments in Stuttgart in 1983, the Maastricht Treaty (1993), the Schengen Agreement (signed in 1990, and put into force in 1995), and the Amsterdam Treaty (1997) -which promoted greater ease of movement between countries, as well as equal treatment for all and respect towards the different cultures.

Schools are microcosms of society and education should take the lead to ensure positive attitudes concerning ethnic and cultural diversity. Mass media interpretations of ethnic issues can be confronted through education, and trends and mass thinking can be evaluated. In this sense, our society is changing direction from the idea of the 'mass society' to the 'mosaic society'.

Taking the above into account, we would like to encourage researchers, politicians and educators to work together in overcoming constraints in policy-making and funding for relevant research of education in general and, more especifically, of education 'in' and 'for' diversity.