51. Recurring Border Crises: Permanent Exception in Spain | Récurrence de la crise frontalière : l’exception permanente en Espagne
- Author:
- Lorenzo Gabrielli
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Cultures & Conflits
- Institution:
- Cultures & Conflits
- Abstract:
- This article analyses the “bordering” process in Spain, notably with regard to its relation to ever-reoccurring “migration crises” at certain areas of the border. More specifically, it addresses the ways in which a structural phenomenon such as illegal immigration is politicized and managed as “exceptional” at the Spanish border. To better understand this dynamic, it analyses, on the one hand, the case of Ceuta and Melilla as pivotal sites of the execution of emergency, and, on the other hand, the Canary Islands as a temporary hotspot. Then, it decodes the elements hidden by the Spanish “bordering by crises” approach and its consequences. In particular, it exposes the way in which emergency management produces a de facto state of exception and excess at segments of the border carrying particular symbolic significance. Finally, it addresses the reasons behind this constant emergency management, namely asking whether emergency management provides an escape from the constraints imposed by fundamental and basic rights.
- Topic:
- Migration, Governance, Border Control, and Borders
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Spain, and Canary Islands