SPAIN-COSTA RICA:
"You Are Nobody in This
Country"
By Daniel Zueras
SAN JOSÉ - (IPS) - As
European barriers
against immigration have
become tighter and
tighter, the number of
Costa Ricans turned back
at the international
airport in Madrid is
steadily growing, even
though people from this
Central American country
do not need a visa to
enter Spain.
Daniela Vargas flew to
Spain to join her
boyfriend, a Spaniard
she met when he was
working in Costa Rica.
But her excitement at
seeing him again after
several months of
separation was squelched
when customs officials
did not allow her into
the country.
It all seemed so
auspicious: Vargas’
flight reached Spain on
Feb. 14, Valentine’s
Day. After crossing an
entire ocean and
spanning continents, the
last obstacle to the
happy reunion that lay
ahead -- customs
procedures -- seemed so
simple.
But then things started
going wrong.
"When I got there, they
asked me for an
invitation letter from
the private individual
with whom I was to stay,
which was to have been
sent through a police
station and certified by
a lawyer, or for a
reservation in a hotel,"
she told IPS. "But at no
time had the authorities
or the airline informed
me of that
prerequisite."
Costa Ricans entering
Spain are also required
to show a round-trip
ticket and a sum of
money equivalent to or
greater than 57 euros
(around 85 dollars) a
day for the person’s
entire stay there.
Vargas was carrying
1,500 euros for a
nine-day visit.
Under the 1985 Schengen
Accord, the countries
making up the Schengen
zone, which include most
European Union nations,
eliminated all border
controls among
themselves, while
stepping up security
along their borders with
non-Schengen countries
to curb the inflow of
undocumented immigrants
from outside the area.
The latest expansion of
the Schengen area took
place in December, when
the number of
participating countries
was increased to 24, and
external border controls
were further tightened.
Compounding the recent
stiffening of external
border security is the
effect of the campaign
for Spain’s Mar. 9
elections, in which
migration policies have
become a hot issue.
"I don't believe there
has been a tightening of
controls specifically
for Costa Ricans," said
Miguel Albero, cultural
attaché in the Spanish
Embassy in Costa Rica.
"The measures are the
same throughout the
Schengen space. Perhaps
there is greater
vigilance on certain
flights," he told IPS.
Spain deported 60 Costa
Ricans in 2006 and 80 in
2007. But recent
Migration Department
statistics show that in
the past few months,
between five and seven
passengers from each
flight from Costa Rica
are sent back from
Madrid.
Albero, however, pointed
out that not all of the
people sent back from
Madrid on the daily
flights are Costa
Ricans.
Costa Rica’s director of
Migration, Mario Zamora,
told IPS that "San José
is the gateway through
which Central Americans
fly to Spain. But it is
true that there has been
an abrupt change in the
past few months, with
the number of people
turned back soaring from
what was previously a
small total."
The problem was first
brought to the attention
of the Migration
Department in late 2007,
"by an informal
complaint from a Costa
Rican," said Zamora.
Both Albero and Zamora
said the airlines must
inform passengers of the
new requirements for
travelling to Spain.
"The situation would
easily be solved if the
airlines, when they
issue tickets, told
customers what they need
in order to enter
Spain," said Zamora.
Albero said he "would
like to think that Spain
isn't racist." He added
that "what is clear is
that there is no
migration pressure from
Costa Rica in Spain."
He also promised that
Spain would investigate
the incident involving
Vargas.
Vargas is furious at the
treatment she received
at the hands of the
customs officials in
Madrid. "They sent back
all of the Latinos who
were on that flight. Of
course there’s racism in
Spain, and a great deal
of it. I am not going to
set a foot in that
country again," she
said.
The young woman, who
holds a doctoral degree
in pharmaceutical
sciences, was held for a
day and a half in the
airport’s holding
centre. "We were all
Latinos. Most of us were
tourists." It was "a
horrible experience; I
felt violated."
She also said the
customs officials
treated them with
contempt, making
scornful jokes. "Every
time they would show up
with someone new, they
would tell us ‘we’ll
just leave you here with
your family members’ or
‘see if you can find a
girlfriend’."
They also told Vargas
"You are nobody here.
Who do you think you are
in this country?"
"The officials tried to
intimidate us," she
said. "There were Costa
Ricans who had been
there for six days
without anything, not
even their toothbrushes,
practically living on
bread and water, because
the food was
disgusting."
She also said she saw
customs agents
mistreating people from
Africa.
Similar complaints have
come from Argentine and
Uruguayan citizens who
have flown to Spain in
the last two years.
Albero, however, said
that "According to
European Union
evaluations of airport
holding centres, the
Barajas (Madrid)
airport’s is among the
best." ( |
