During November and through to the middle of December, the campaign “Voices against racism” offers sixty activities to generate debate and reflection and get people involved in the fight against racism, with notable figures such as the photographer Ángelica Dass and the thinker john a. powell taking part. The programme “Voices against racism” comes with an awareness campaign for people to join the anti-racist cause: “Lend your voice to fight racism”. Its protagonists are activists such as Desirée Bela, writer and educator in anti-racist education, the actor Ayoub El Hilali and the mediator Paqui Perona. The campaign and agenda of activities will run until 11 December, coinciding with the fourth edition of the UNESCO Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination, which is being held at the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB) on 10 and 11 December.

Nearly sixty activities are being organised between November and December around all city districts, the goal being to get people involved in the fight against racism. The programme includes cultural events, reading clubs and exhibitions, designed in conjunction with city organisations with the goal of fostering a more inclusive community.

Notable activities include the musical Black Side Story, by Miquel Ripeu, the photography display “Open Arms. The Mediterranean Reality, Europe and its liquid fortress”, the project Humanae, by the photographer Angélica Dass, and the talk on the concept of Othering and Belonging as a strategy to combat racism, by the US thinker john a. powell.

All activities can be found on the website barcelona.cat/antiracista.

“Lend your voice to fight racism”

The programme “Voices against racism” comes with an awareness campaign for people to join the anti-racist cause. The campaign aims to give visibility to the voices of local activities and committed citizens, inviting people to become more aware of the racist situations we experience every day, and to call on citizens to express their support and join the struggle against racism.

Eight activists are taking part in the campaign, sharing their experiences and points of view. The protagonists are Desirée Bela, writer and educator in anti-racist education, the actor Ayoub El Hilali, the mediator Paqui Perona, the student Leyao Rovira, the communicator Ramia Chaoui, the singer Vignesh Melwani, the educator Mercè Amor and the researcher Karlos Castilla.

The campaign and agenda of activities will run until 11 December, coinciding with the fourth edition of the UNESCO Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination, which is being held at the Barcelona International Convention Centre (CCIB) on 10 and 11 December.

Discrimination and racism in Barcelona

Barcelona has various resources for guaranteeing everybody’s rights and helping to build a fairer society. For instance, the Office for Non-Discrimination (OND) supports people who suffer any sort of discrimination, providing legal advice in reporting cases and working to raise public awareness. Similarly, the BCN Antirumours network is made up of various organisations, individuals and services working from an intercultural perspective to build a city free of discrimination.

Racism and xenophobia are the main reasons for discrimination in the city, according to the latest Report by the Observatory on Discrimination. The report indicates that of the 865 recorded cases of discrimination, 230 (26.5%) were on the grounds of people’s origin and nationality. People of Arab and Maghrebi origin, black people and those of Latin America origin, in that order, experience more cases of discrimination through racism and xenophobia.

Distintion, exclusion, physical and verbal aggression are some of the forms of discrimination that occurred last year in the city, with under-reporting a latent reality in cases of discrimination, making it difficult to give visibility to these types of violations.

An increasingly diverse city

Out of the 1,702,814 people residing in Barcelona last year, 572,459 were born abroad, and for the fifth year running the number of people on the register of residents who were not born in the city was higher than those born here, who represent 46.1% of the total.

In parallel to initiatives such as “Voices against racism”, the city is also working on “Barcelona against racism”, a strategic plan which should be ready next year and will be rolled out in the period up to 2035. This plan aims to make Barcelona an anti-racist city, also building the anti-racist perspective into the public administration’s overall perspective and turning it into an active stakeholder in the fight against racism.