ON our beautiful walk home somewhere in Spain, we spotted a market on a quiet road with the name ‘Supermarket D’Omar’. It was a picture perfect moment as the two Omars in our group crossed the street and posed under the sign, both pointing to their names. A gentleman from the store came out, ostensibly to see what was going on, and when the Spanish-speaking Omar explained what they were doing, the man said he was also named Omar. This too required a photograph. It was a sweet moment.

On our next evening at our hosts’ home, his wife, who has lived in Spain for 10 years, said she had increasingly started to feel unwelcome. She said she got strange looks in supermarkets and understood why the supermarket Omar came out looking a bit wary. In fact, she had a photograph to show it. Indeed, when we looked at the photograph of the two Omars pointing to their names, the supermarket Omar’s face did not seem friendly, or cheerful as he approached us. As mentioned, he was happy to be included in the photograph once he understood what was going on.

It is impossible to know whether the supermarket Omar had experienced anything untoward but as the saying goes, that one photograph ‘tells a story’.

That story is backed up by news headlines we’ve become accustomed to over the years about the continual rise of the right-wing across Europe that wants migrants ‘to go back home’. Right-wing parties are making electoral gains across Europe and one story in the Guardian in February said that they could become the largest force in a decade.

Right-wing Vox is appealing to young voters in Spain.

Tarik Abou-Chadi, a professor of European politics at Oxford, explained to the Guardian that the more the right-wing rises, the more mainstream parties turn towards the right on issues like immigration, for example, to gain votes. That doesn’t happen; instead norms change and opinion shifts. “Accommodation normalises and legitimises far-right parties: voting for them is no longer a transgression,” he is quoted as saying. Debates about citizenship have changed over the last two decades, everywhere.

Spain is a bit of an anomaly because its left-leaning coalition government plans to regularise one million undocumented workers over a three-year period as a way to address labour shortages. Financial Times also called Spain Europe’s “standout” economy last month. There’s not that much anti-migrant sentiment on the streets. And there’s no data to link crimes to migrants. Euronews reported that 75 per cent of young Spaniards say immigrants’ customs must be respected unless they clash with the country’s constitution.

But there has been a surge in hate crimes against migrants — up by 21pc, according to International Investments, with racially motivated crimes up by 42pc.

That may explain violent anti-migrant protests in a small town in July after a pensioner was attacked. The protests began after a video on social media sparked anger in a town of 40,000 with a large number of North African migrants. The police said there was no relation between that video and the attack on the pensioner but it didn’t quell the calls on social media to find ‘the attackers’ or even attack migrants. The violence lasted a few days and emboldened Vox, the right-wing party that calls for ‘massive’ deportations.

Vox has risen fast since it was founded in 2013 and become the third strongest political force, according to a story in DW. It won only 0.2pc of the vote in 2016 but that figure went up to 15pc in 2019. You’d think that Spain would not want to see a return to Fra­nco’s fascist past, but Vox is appealing to young voters. It does not help that mainstream part­ies are embroiled in corruption charges.

Just last month, Vox MP Rocío de Meer said deportation was necessary to ‘preserve’ Spanish identity. “We have the right to want to survive as a people,” the MP asserted at a press conference. “We are seeing that … our streets often do not belong to Spaniards.” This isn’t just happening in Spain. You will find many here who say society isn’t what it used to be, pointing fingers at the Afghans for ‘ruining’ Pakistan. They’re cheering the Afghans’ expulsion even though Pakistan is the only home they’ve known.

Nostalgia is — pardon me for repeating myself — racist, sexist and exclusive. And when nostalgic rhetoric makes it into political parties’ manifestos, it cements divisions.

Things weren’t better in Pakistan at any particular time. Except for the rich who have it good even today. Otherwise, things were unfair and unjust. Those who call for a return to that ‘better time’ only want to bully and throw their weight around. It’s time for a new generation to define what is best for us.

The writer is an instructor of journalism.

X: @LedeingLady

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2025