By Dean Ross, Doctoral Researcher in Politics and International Relations at the University of Glasgow. [Image: Dean Ross, Edinburgh, 2023.]
Over the last two decades, the growing influence of nationalist politics has intensified the conversation on immigration, polarising societies across the globe on the issue. However, Scotland and Catalonia have long been notable exceptions to this trend, with immigration comparatively less salient and less politically polarised in both regions than in their wider states, and support for anti-immigration parties has historically lagged national trends. This political tolerance has often been attributed to the civic character of Scottish and Catalan nationalism, where belonging has been tied to residence and participation rather than ancestry. My research explores this enigma and the role stateless nationalism plays in shaping public attitudes toward immigration, asking: to what extent do Scottish and Catalan expressions of nationalism shape public attitudes towards immigration?
An Alternative Approach to Nationalism?
The Scottish National Party (SNP), who been the governing party in the Scottish Parliament since 2007, have framed immigration as a tool to tackle the nation’s economic and demographic concerns, often against the backdrop of increasingly hostile immigration policies emanating from Westminster. Despite not possessing any formal powers on immigration, the Scottish Government has used its limited policy powers to establish a distinct approach to immigration. National frameworks, such as the ‘New Scots’ strategy, which supports the integration of refugees and people seeking asylum from arrival via the provision of English and improving pathways into housing and healthcare, alongside ambitious policy measures, such as free bus passes for people seeking asylum and free entry into higher education, have differentiated the Scottish Government’s approach to immigration as distinctly more incorporative and supportive.
At the same time, the SNP government have sought to leverage their monopoly of Scottish political nationalism to mould the Scottish national identity as one synonymous with welcome and inclusivity. Most notably, discussing the Scottish national identity, former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, stated: “We are so much stronger for the diversity that shapes us. We are one Scotland, and we are simply home to all those who choose to live here. That is who and what we are” (Nicola Sturgeon, 2016).
A similar approach has also been fundamental in shaping Catalan nationalism, where nationalist parties in the region have sought to develop on Catalonia’s heritage as a land of welcome, drawing on its legacy as the Terra d’Acollida (Land of Welcome), a concept which gained particular prominence when Catalonia experienced large-scale migration from the rest of Spain in the twentieth century. During this period, leading nationalist figures, such as former President of the Government of Catalonia, of liberal party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC), Jordi Pujol, were able to mechanise increasing immigration to their advantage, incorporating newcomers into broader conceptions of Catalan identity, instilling a new nationalist approach to immigration. Famously, when discussing who merits the title of Catalan, Pujol proclaimed, “A Catalan person is one who lives and works in Catalonia, and who wants to be Catalan” (Raco Català, 2006).
This civic framing, first developed in response to internal migration, has shaped subsequent approaches to international immigration, often portraying newcomers as culturally and economically enriching for Catalonia. Like the Scottish Government, successive Catalan Governments have sought to distinguish themselves from the Spanish state by offering a more integrative approach for newcomers, formalised through the ‘Catalan Way of Integration’. Consequently, social policies have aimed at encouraging newcomers to integrate via voluntary Catalan language learning classes while providing information on local institutions and access to social services in Catalonia on the same terms as residents, regardless of legal status; differing from conditional “civic integration” models found elsewhere in Europe. Simultaneously, this has helped incorporate newcomers into mainstream Catalan identity and align them with the broader sovereigntist and pro-independence movement.
Contesting the Politics of Welcome
Recent developments in Scotland have demonstrated the emergence of a more visible public polarisation around immigration, exposing a mounting challenge to the traditionally civic, top-down nationalism championed by the SNP that has long been associated with the nation. Instead, nationalist symbols and flags have become increasingly mobilised within anti-immigration rhetoric. This has coincided with Reform UK’s rise in Scottish politics, who have sought to wrap anti-immigration political messaging in the language of defending British and Scottish values, while tapping into nationalist feeling to broaden its appeal. This injection of a harder-edged immigration narrative into the political conversation at Holyrood risks disrupting the previous cross-party consensus over the benefits of immigration to Scotland’s sustainability, raising questions over the future direction of Scottish integration policies.
In Catalonia, the situation is even more complex. The emergence of a new nationalist, far-right party, Aliança Catalana, has brought an explicitly pro-Catalan, anti-immigration platform into the political mainstream. The party’s growing success in the region has disturbed the nationalist movement’s historic commitment to integrating migrants and incorporating them into the nationalist movement to strengthen separatist claims. At the same time, the Spanish-Nationalist party, Vox, has pursued a parallel anti-immigration agenda rooted in Spanish nationalism – resulting in anti-immigration political platforms for both nationalist identities. Consequently, there has been a notable shift in political debate around immigration in Catalonia, with the popular and established nationalist party, which occupies the political space as Catalonia’s main centre-right party, Junts, altering its approach to immigration and adopting a tougher position in an attempt to win back voters from the far-right.
An Uncertain Future
These developments make both cases particularly important for understanding how immigration is leveraged within nationalist movements, and how Scots and Catalans respond to competing nationalist narratives. Who gets to define those narratives is key to understanding the changing relationship between nationalism and immigration in the coming years. That relationship is already shifting, as competing visions of the nation emerge. Scotland’s recent elections and public protests have brought this shift into sharp focus, while Catalonia is undergoing a similar transformation of its political landscape as right-wing nationalist parties continue to gain ground. These dynamics matter well beyond election cycles. As right-wing parties gain ground, debates over immigration are increasingly intersecting with questions of social policy, particularly over who should have access to welfare, healthcare, housing, and other social rights. In Scotland, Reform UK has already proposed restricting access to welfare benefits for non-citizens, while in Catalonia, Aliança Catalana has similarly proposed giving Catalan residents priority access to public services and social benefits. Proposals like these reflect a broader shift in nationalist politics, where belonging to the nation is increasingly being linked to entitlement to social provision. This challenges the resilience of both regions’ integrative nationalist projects and raises important questions about who is considered part of the nation and who is afforded access to social rights and public services.
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Keywords: Nationalism, immigration, public opinion, political discourse, substate nationalism, stateless nations, national identity, Scotland, Catalonia.
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By Dean Ross, Doctoral Researcher in Politics and International Relations at the University of Glasgow. University Research Profile: https://www.gla.ac.uk/pgrs/deanross/ ; LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-ross-623801142/.
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Bio: I am a PhD candidate in Politics and International Relations at the University of Glasgow, interested in the intersections of nationalism, elite discourse, and attitudes towards immigration. My current research explores the role of nationalism in shaping attitudes towards immigration in Scotland and Catalonia.
University Research Profile: https://www.gla.ac.uk/pgrs/deanross/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dean-ross-623801142/.
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Access to Nicola Sturgeon quote: https://www.gov.scot/publications/official-opening-scottish-parliament/
Access to Jordi Pujol quote: https://www.racocatala.cat/noticia/11812/lexpresident-jordi-pujol-vincula-fet-ser-catala-voluntat-dintegracio