[Leica] IMG: Algerians in Alicante

[Nathan Wajsman]

Thanks for looking, Jayanand. Responding on-list since others may wonder also. There are two sources of connection between Algeria and Spain.

When Algeria was a French colony, Spain was a poor and backwards country in the dark ages of Franco’s dictatorship, and a number of Spanish people emigrated to French Algeria in search of a better life. They settled there, had children etc. After Algeria became independent in the early 1960s, most of them returned to Spain (in some cases with  children born in Algeria who had never been to Spain). And because Alicante is the part of Spain closest to Algeria (just look at the map), many of these returnees settled in this area. We have friends among this group—they are Spanish-French bilingual (often using French among themselves) but since many of them were small children when they left Algeria, they have not many memories and no particular nostalgia for the place.

And of course, in recent decades, we have had migration from North Africa here in Spain, since the tables are now completely turned in terms of wealth and economic development. It is those people who were celebrating Bouteflika’s resignation in my photos.

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan Wajsman

Alicante, Spain
http://www.frozenlight.eu <http://www.frozenlight.eu/>
http:// <http://www.greatpix.eu/>www.greatpix.eu
PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws <http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws>Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ <http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/>

Cycling: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator <http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator>

YNWA













> On 11 Apr 2019, at 03:12, Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> wrote:
> 
> I did not know they were Algerians who had migrated to Spain, I thought
> they were all in France!.
> Cheers
> Jayanand
> 
> On Wed, Apr 10, 2019 at 10:41 AM Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu>
> wrote:
> 
>> Last week two small vignettes really brought home that our nearest
>> neighbour here in Alicante is North Africa. On Thursday afternoon I was
>> cycling after work, and I stopped to photograph the sunset sky over the A70
>> motorway that bypasses Alicante, including in the picture a sign indicating
>> the distance to Almería and the ferries to Morocco and Algeria that depart
>> from there—in Spanish and in Arabic, since many of the drivers who use this
>> motorway to get to the ferries to cross the Mediterranean are Moroccans and
>> Algerians living in countries further north, such as France, Belgium or the
>> Netherlands.
>> 
>> Then on Sunday afternoon I was walking around the centre and happened upon
>> this small demonstration on Plaza Montañeta, one of Alicante’s central
>> squares. The tone was decidedly celebratory, and I suspected that it had to
>> do with the recent resignation of longtime president Bouteflika. And
>> indeed, one of the Algerian bystanders confirmed that. I took a few
>> pictures:
>> 
>> https://www.greatpix.eu/Algerians-in-Alicante/
>> 
>> People were very friendly and someone else asked me if I needed more
>> information—I politely told him that I had already spoken with one of his
>> compatriots there.
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> Nathan
>> 
>> Nathan Wajsman
>> 
>> Alicante, Spain
>> http://www.frozenlight.eu <http://www.frozenlight.eu/>
>> http:// <http://www.greatpix.eu/>www.greatpix.eu
>> PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws <
>> http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws>Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ <
>> http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/>
>> 
>> Cycling: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator <
>> http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/belgiangator>
>> 
>> YNWA
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
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