Abstract

PLAZA-DEL PINO, Fernando Jesús; PLAZA-DEL PINO, Mª Dolores  and  MARTINEZ GALVEZ, Loreto. A foreigner’s story: Experiences of a rifian immigrant without papers. Index Enferm [online]. 2006, vol.15, n.55, pp.59-62. ISSN 1699-5988.

Economic globalization is causing tens of thousands of people to be forced to leave their countries to escape extreme poverty. They risk their lives in pursuit of a dignified way of life. Foreign residents in Spain make up eight per cent of the population. In Andalusia about 420,000 of them coexist with the Andalusian people. In the province of Almería there are about 50,000 foreigners on the files of the Social Security and it is estimated that there are another 40,000 who do not have residency permits. Almería is chosen by thousands of immigrants as the gate of entry to the ‘rich world’. In the province of Almería over 60% of these come from Morocco. Using such large numbers and statistics can make us forget that each one of these numbers represents a unique personal story. Through the life story of one of them we hope to get closer to their reality and try to understand their feelings and sentiments. This is the story of one foreigner, similar to the stories of many other foreigners, the story of a person who, like many others, was born elsewhere and has come to our country full of hope, dreams and expectations. This is the story of a Moroccan from the Rif Mountains who, after several attempts, finally managed, two years ago, to reach our shores.