"People have multiple identities and it is absurd that only one possible option is accepted"

Barcelona"My name is Zeynabu Said Xixons, my father is Sahrawi, my mother is Catalan and I was born in Manresa." She would repeat it quickly and immediately as a child, every time someone asked her: "And you, girl, where are you from?" If she only answered "from Manresa", then the interlocutor was not completely convinced by the answer. "Yes, yes, you live in Manresa, but where are your parents from?" The question continues to be asked when she says her name or when they see that her physical features are characteristic of North Africa. The questions are probably not malicious, but they question her identity. "If I was born, raised and lived all my life in Manresa, it is obvious that I am from Manresa, right? And, in any case, why do I constantly have to explain where my father comes from?" Zeynabu asks rhetorically.

Mohamed Amrani, whose parents are Moroccan, on the other hand, always answers: "I'm from Roses." "I know perfectly well that this answer is not expected, but I want to normalise it." In the end, however, by asking it so much, they themselves, as Catalans and children of immigrants, have also questioned what their place in the world really is, especially during adolescence, the age at which one's own identity is constructed.

The FA, when he was in high school, felt very close to his Moroccan origin, which is that of his parents, although he was born and always lived in Barcelona. "They tell you that being Muslim is being sexist, living on social assistance and only thinking about having children. I have worked hard to show that this is not true," he explains. However, he is clear that throughout his life he will have to endure verbal aggression: "The Fucking Moor, go back to your country I've heard it many times and, in the end, I've learned to normalize it because here they will always tell me it." F. has been out of adolescence for years now and, now, at 27, he is convinced that he is a "citizen of the world" and that, no matter what they say, his city is and will be only one, and it is possible. educator, among many other things, so what?" He reflects that insults are the excuse for destructive speeches coming from the community of origin to be able to say: "Do you see how, no matter how much you live with them, they don't love you?"

gar, as much as he could, his father's origins. "I wanted to lighten my hair and I told my family that when I was 18 I would change my name to Maria. If you get the idea that Maghreb culture is barbaric and Western culture is civilized, it's logical that I was ashamed of my father's origins. That's why it's been hard for me to feel proud of my Sahrawi side. Now I realize that, in reality, it makes me richer because I know and am closer to two cultures."

Neither from one place nor from another

"A child of immigrants has a dilemma between the culture of origin and the host culture," argues the director of the psychological care service for immigrants at the Sant Pere Claver Hospital in Barcelona, ​​​​Joseba Achotegui. "That's why they have a more complex identity that must manage to integrate the values ​​of both cultures, something that is not always easy." According to Achotegui, children of immigrants suffer more psychological problems and mental disorders than their parents because, despite the fact that the immigration process is difficult, their identity is already constructed.

"I have often felt misunderstood, both by my mother, who has never suffered insults, and by my father, because he is from there. I, on the other hand, am half of both places, I am neither one nor the other," says Zeyna. She also claims to have felt family pressure: "I was the first university graduate on my father's side. On graduation day he thanked me: he had left his country precisely to give us these opportunities and he saw that his effort had not been in vain."

However, the situation in Catalonia, according to Achotegui, is much more positive than in other European countries: "It must be recognised that a lot of work has been done here to include groups of different origins. Consider that in France people even talk about fourth generation immigrants, a term that makes no sense because the condition of immigrant is not inherited." For her part, Montserrat Ribas, an expert in language analysis, believes that "the term second, third or fourth generation means that a part of the population of a country can never shake off the stigma of being an immigrant, despite never having been one." "Frustration can come when children of immigrants realise that, because of their origins, doors are closed to them. And a 20-year-old boy wants to have a job and a girlfriend from here, and it is not always easy for them," adds Achotegui.

However, the three witnesses interviewed agree: they have grown up in a healthy environment, where family and friends have supported them. "I have been lucky enough to meet very beautiful people, with very open minds and great human values," says F. El Mohamed. He adds that his position also allows him to see the world from two perspectives that, after all, "are similar." "We are all Mediterranean, we like to live on the street and share with family and friends. I love both lands and I am going to work for cooperation and coexistence between the two," he insists.