Foreign residents also help build our community

Behind the word “foreigner” is a person: someone who works, cares for others, builds a family and wants a peaceful life. Sometimes hearing their story is enough to begin seeing one another differently.

Perhaps you remember a son, brother or neighbour who had to move far away to earn a living. The farewells, phone calls and longing to return home. That experience helps us understand why foreign residents matter to our society and how someone arriving in Spain today may feel.

We do not need to agree on everything to live together. We need something simpler: respect, fair treatment and the opportunity to get to know one another.

Spaniards also packed their bags

During the twentieth century, many Spaniards moved to France, Germany, Switzerland or the Americas to find work. Others left their villages to start again in Madrid, Barcelona or Valencia.

Older people know what it means to get ahead through hard work. Many experienced those farewells in their own families. Arriving somewhere unfamiliar, not understanding the language or missing your mother are experiences that do not depend on a passport.

People who migrate today may have similar reasons: finding a job, reuniting with family or giving their children a future. Every story is different, but the hope of a better life is familiar to us.

Integration and welcome: a shared responsibility

People arriving in Spain have a responsibility to respect the law, understand their duties and follow the rules of community life. Learning Spanish, caring for shared spaces and taking part in neighbourhood life help build trust. Rights and obligations belong to the same shared life.

The receiving community also has a role: getting to know new neighbours, understanding their contribution and treating them fairly. Supporting language learning, recognising people’s skills and giving them a chance to demonstrate them benefit the whole community.

Expecting integration and recognising foreign residents’ contributions are commitments that go hand in hand. Trust grows when everyone knows what they can contribute and what is expected of them.

The work that forms part of our daily lives

Think of an ordinary day: buying bread, gathering a harvest, receiving a parcel, visiting a café or a care home. People born here and people from other countries take part in these activities.

In places such as Tomelloso and Castilla-La Mancha, farming illustrates this well. Harvesting grapes, pruning and caring for crops require work and knowledge. Foreign workers share that effort with Spanish farmers, businesses and workers.

Their contribution also reaches shops, workshops, construction, hospitals, hospitality and skilled professions. Some are employees; others open businesses and create opportunities for more people.

A community progresses through the efforts of all its neighbours. All work deserves decent conditions, fair pay and respect, regardless of the worker’s origin.

Those who care for our elderly also have families

For an older person, help from someone they trust can transform the day: preparing food, going for a walk together or listening without watching the clock. Foreign carers are among those who build very close bonds with families.

That work requires responsibility, patience and humanity. It also deserves rest, recognition and good working conditions.

We sometimes forget that the person caring for our parents may have their own parents far away. While caring here, they may be worried about their mother in another country. Understanding this brings us closer.

Foreign residents are much more than their jobs: they are also parents, grandparents, students, friends and neighbours, entitled to receive care when they need it.

Shopping locally is also a contribution

Contributing to society does not stop at the end of the working day. A family buying groceries, paying rent or visiting a hairdresser participates in the local economy.

Workers who pay contributions support Social Security. Consumption also generates tax revenue. These contributions help sustain services and social protection.

It would not be serious to claim that immigration alone solves pensions, staffing shortages or a town’s problems. But it would also be unfair to ignore the work, spending and initiatives of those who have come to live here.

Communities are built by their neighbours

When a family settles in a town, it seeks everyday things: a home, a school for the children and somewhere to shop. In time, it may also join a parents’ association, a sports team or neighbourhood celebrations.

Community life grows through small encounters: greeting each other on the stairs, asking about an illness or helping carry bags. Customs may differ, but kindness and help need little explanation.

Learning Spanish makes living together easier. Patience from those who already know the town also helps people still learning. Nobody masters a new language on the first day.

We can discuss problems respectfully

Housing, waiting lists and lack of employment concern many neighbours. These issues deserve answers and good management. Discussing them seriously means understanding their causes, listening and seeking solutions.

We can ask for clear rules, adequate services and everyone fulfilling their obligations. Respect must be mutual. Blaming an entire problem on a nationality or mistreating someone because of their accent does not help.

If someone acts wrongly, they should answer for their own actions. Their compatriots are not therefore guilty, just as we do not judge all Spaniards by one person’s behaviour.

Respect does not depend on a passport

Recognising foreign residents’ contributions matters. But their dignity does not depend on their productivity. A retired, ill or unemployed person deserves the same respect as anyone else.

Many older people taught their children to greet others, help neighbours and never humiliate anyone. Those values remain a good guide when a neighbour comes from another country.

The neighbour who seems foreign today may tomorrow be the person beside us when we most need help. Knowing their name and hearing their story can be the beginning of good community life.

At TRALIF, in Tomelloso, we believe in a society where people can work, fulfil their obligations and build dignified lives. Supporting people with immigration procedures also means understanding the human stories behind the documents.