Madrid / Spain (RNN Correspondent) 02.02.1998

Racist attitudes of young persons are widespread in Spain. Due to a study that was published in Madrid on Monday, the prejudice and hate are mainly directed at gypsies, North Africans, and Jews. Approximately 25 % of pupils between 13 and 19 years of age a re for expelling the gypsies and Maghrebines from Spain. The rate is 15 % concerning Jews, says the report.

About 10 % of the Spanish young people call themselves racists. They would elect an extreme right wing party that would plead for an expulsion of foreigners.

Almost 50 % of the pupils think that the foreigners take away the jobs from the Spaniards and serve to spread drugs and criminality. More than 50 % of those asked said that they would not marry a gypsy or a Maghrebian.

For the study to which the Ministry of Education and Work and the University of Madrid had contributed, 6,000 pupils in 144 schools all over Spain had been questioned. The Social Anthropologist Calvo Buezas said that the intolerance in Spain has not increa sed. In comparison with similar studies in 1986 and 1993 the figures have even lightly dropped.