Local government e foreign immigration. Approach to cases of Barcelona and Lisbon during 90 years

Abstract

This article analyses the relations of local governments and «foreign immigration» in two Iberian cities, Barcelona and Lisbon. Both share the fact of having received since the 80s this kind of population in larger numbers than before, in contrast with what happened in northern European countries where these phenomena occurred immediately after the Second World War. Thus first the author draws the context of the changes developed since the 70s in European and North American local governments, and then notes the particularities of the local authorities in Barcelona and Lisbon. After that, the article studies some apparently participatory experiences of «foreign immigrants» and «ethnic minorities» (named immigration advisory councils or integration forums) during the 90s in both cities.