Spain, and Europe, need a new story about migration – there is some recognition of this in Spain but it remains to be seen how the country will put this into practice. Spaniards are relatively open towards migration, but the policy challenge for their government should be to allay, and not provoke, fears of migrant invasion.
by Stefanie Claudia Müller
While Donald Trump is not just hated in Europe for his “America first”- policy, but also in his own country, especially in spots such as San Francisco, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron have become somehow heroes. They stand for a Europe that is tolerant, generous, that fights for female rights and a Europe that is very diverse and open-minded. In Germany, refugees get a kind of “Welcome package” and also for legalized immigrants they are a lot of social benefits, nearly the same or even some times better assistance than for the nationals who fell out of the system. This has attracted a lot of people who are seeking help.
Behind this human face it is obvious that Europe has as well massive problems with illegal immigration and in consequence with a rise of right extreme parties. But as in the US migrants and refugees are not the problem of a declining fierce capitalist system driven by the American way of life. Anyhow, an Economic upswing in front can we really be the paradise for everyone? Are we so different than Trump in our immigration policy or are we just less honest? The crucial question is how comprehensive can we be and how far can we permit to import to our European society “strange” traditions like wearing a Burka or female genital mutilation? Can we permit immigrants to live their political conflicts in their new home like the Kurdish and Turks do in Germany?
by Stefanie Claudia Müller
Sabrina Moh Abdelkader stands for a different muslim lifestyle. The young woman is a representative of the Social Democratic Central Government of Madrid in Melilla. In this position she is a kind of mediator of national interests. Her own story stands for many in Melilla, where converting is not a duty when women or men fall in love with different faiths. Sabrina Moh Abdelkader is divorced and remarried to a Christian. What might rather be a scandal in Germany in many Muslim circles is not a problem for her family: “I also brought a child from my first marriage into the second,” she says.
Long working hours shorten life expectancy by 9 years due to working weeks that exceed 48 hours. Every hour spent at work per week above the recommended 48 hours shaves 2.25 years off your life. Countries which have an average working week that exceeds 48 hours die an average of two years earlier than those that work for 45 hours or less, new research shows. According to World Health Organization (WHO) data, countries with a high life expectancy between 82.2 and 84.2 years, among them Spain, work an average of 40.7 hours per week, compared to the average 42.6 hour worked by countries with lifespans between 52.9 and 59.8.
Is University even worth the money? The data team at Satsuma have crunched the numbers to find out.
Will Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel and Josep Borrell be able to turn things round? The latest report from the European Council on Foreign Relations and coauthors Mark Leonard, cofounder and director of ECFR, and Carl Bildt, cochair of ECFR – From plaything to player: How Europe can stand up for itself in the next five years – argues that Europeans still have the power to take their destiny into their own hands – if they make major changes to how they organize themselves.