Spanish-Born Activist Fights for Citizenship, Exposes Racism in New Book

Safia’s parents, of Moroccan origin, arrived in Catalonia 40 years ago. Safia, for her part, was born in Tarragona 27 years ago. The young woman has been fighting since the age of 18 to obtain Spanish nationality without which she could not exercise her right to vote. Until now, she still does not have the Spanish national identity card (DNI), but assures that the procedure is almost complete, reports Huffington Post.

During all these years when she could not vote, Safia has become very active on social networks. Under the nickname "Daughter of Immigrants", she denounces on Instagram the discrimination suffered by many foreigners in Spain. In 2019, she launched the "I Give You My Vote" and "Voting Is a Privilege" campaigns, bringing together non-voting residents and abstentionist Spaniards.

To read: Moroccan Student Exposes Teacher’s Alleged Racism at Spanish University on TikTok

Very committed, Safia El Aaddam has just published her first novel, with a rather evocative title: Daughter of Immigrants. "From a very young age, I realized that I had this label of daughter of immigrants because I had inherited the status of immigrant, the legal status and social racism towards my parents, even though I was born in this country," she explains. And to add: "You take on a role and responsibilities that are not your age, the constant stress due to the fear of institutions, among other things. As an adult, you see yourself as a helpless girl..."

Safia also denounces institutional racism towards foreigners. "When the Moor’s son speaks Amazigh and Spanish, he is not integrated enough. But when the son of a Frenchman speaks French and Spanish, it is a real merit," she laments. "We try to deny our roots and our culture so as not to suffer so much rejection and violence. [...] It is at school that the daughters of migrants and people of color suffer the first violence and discrimination. Structurally, the system is racist, so education is racist too, and the teachers are racist," insists Safia.