Tomàs Colom i Canals analyzes the debate that was generated between 1975-1980 around the political, social and cultural implications of the immigration phenomenon. The fundamental nucleus of the work consists of six interviews carried out with political and intellectual figures of importance that took an important part in the debate.
This work arose from the concern for what I consider insufficient and inadequate debate on today’s immigration in Catalonia.
It started from the observation of the great dimensions of the phenomenon, the certainty of the strong implications of all order that it must have for our society, and the conviction that there is a lack of political and intellectual leadership in an urgent debate, that as often happens to us, we are late.
The months that have elapsed since the election of the theme have only confirmed this idea.
The initial standpoint consisted in approaching the debate on immigration in the years of the Transition, not to look for parallels between the immigration lived in Catalonia during the fifties, sixties and first seventies, and today’s, or to find differences and similarities between that context and ours. What it was about was to approach the debate between 1975 and 1980 to see from which perspectives it was faced. If independently of the different intellectual and political positions that were defended, one was aware of the implications that the immigration received during the Franco regime in Catalonia should have on the political and social reality that it wanted to transform, that is, on the so-called process of ” national reconstruction “.
Immediately I contemplated the possibility of having the contributions of people who had a special role, political or intellectual, in this debate on immigration or who could make an assessment of the aspects that I was interested. Previously I made a bibliographical work to draw a general overview of immigration during the Franco regime, of the same Transition and the debate that concerns us, while preparing the interviews.
What has ended up happening is that the collaborations achieved have resulted in the transcription of six interviews, which due to their interest, extension and its value as a source of information have become the central part of the work. Given the limitations imposed in this work, a seventh interview with Lluís Cabrera of the collective Els altres andalusos has not been included).
Therefore, finally, this introduction to the debate on immigration in the Transition formally consists of two parts. The first is subdivided into three: a general view of the Transition in Catalonia from a political perspective, a description of the magnitude of the migration phenomenon experienced by Catalonia during the dictatorship, and a compilation of the highlights and moments of the debate on immigration. in the context of the process of national reconstruction and recovery of freedoms.
