371. The language of geopolitics

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I speak Spanish and English with equal dexterity, after half a life in Spain and half in UK. Only the other day I noticed something curious. I realised that, in English, we are used to hearing the word immigrant, but not at all the word emigrant. The UK and the US deal with immigration much more than they do with emigration. In Spain, at least in Galicia, when I was growing up, the opposite was true. Emigration was a widely used word, as our society lost its young people, who left in search of work and better economic opportunities. Inmigrante, I doubt I heard at all at that time. This has changed, and immigration has become an oft repeated term in Spain also, a sign of the huge prosperity increase Spain has experienced since it joined the EU, combined with the ugly antiimmigration global movement which uses the plight of those who have to leave their home to survive, or build a future, to stir fear and hate for political purposes. Interesting how your language betrays your society

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Location: Hereford, UK

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