Young Moroccan-Spaniards in Majorca Navigate Dual Identity and Discrimination

These three young people are children of the first generation of Moroccans who arrived on the island in the 70s-80s. Their parents have always been considered foreigners. Born in Majorca, these second-generation Majorcans denounce the discrimination that has persisted for years. "If I speak sincerely, I don’t think we have the same opportunities as a Majorcan with a Majorcan surname. But when they give you the opportunity and you show that you have the same skills as anyone else, they trust you," confides Amal Derdabi, a 32-year-old social worker who works in the community service of the Palma town hall in Pere Garau, to El Diario de Mallorca.

"You always have to justify why you arrived here," laments Adel Boulharrak, a consultant and graduate in physics from the UIB. Migrants have always been treated as foreigners on the island. "I don’t notice much difference between my parents’ generation and mine," admits Ghizlane Lahriga, a 27-year-old social worker living in Muro. According to her, "discrimination is still present". "The fact that Amal and I don’t wear the hijab [veil] brings us closer. But the other day, I was asked: Are you from here or from over there? This kind of comment annoys me a lot. I’m from here and from over there. Or when they say: ’You don’t wear the hijab, you don’t look like them,’ she denounces, disapproving of this mentality of differentiation