Russophobia across Europe became unprecedentedly rampant. It causes ambiguous feelings among Europeans. There are people who are ready to support the Russians in this difficult situation. Spanish citizen Alfonso De Hoyos, wrote that he is ready to do everything possible to draw the attention of the Spanish authorities to discrimination against Russian compatriots who were targeted because of their nationality.
- A few days ago, on your Facebook page, you published an appeal to Russian citizens living in Spain and invited them to send examples of discrimination against them because of their nationality to your email address. Please tell us why you decided to take this step?
- My relationships with Russia are actually longer than my own life. I am the XIV Duke of Almodóvar del Río. The title comes from my father’s side. The First Duke of Almodóvar del Río, then Marquess of Almodóvar del Río, among other titles, was an Ambassador to the Russian Empire under Yelizaveta Petrovna, Peter III and Catherine the Great. As it is customary in our kind of families, we keep very good track of the deeds of our ancestors. I am currently writing a book on the Diplomatic correspondence of the First Duke with a help of a renown university professor. I hope we will present it in Russia one day.
During the Soviet Union era, and in particular during our Civil War, as it is easy to imagine, Spanish nobility and the Soviets were not exactly on the same page for a number of issues. On my mother’s side, her aunt Maria, was very fond of the Russian diaspora fleeing the Soviets. She was practically bilingual in Russian. My mother, always admirer of her aunt, bought a Catechism book in Russian.. From this book I learnt the Russian alphabet when I was barely seven, and several very basic sentences. In all, however,
In 2008 I converted to Orthodox Christianity, but the seeds were planted when I was just 13. Now I am 47. I used to pass of my holidays in Biarritz, France. After asking for the priest permission (dependent on my parents’ permission) I attended the Divine Liturgy in the Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky and the Protection of the Mother of God which could be seen from almost everywhere in the coast. The sermon of the priest left a long-lasting mark on me.
My conversion brought more changes. Changes in the people I met, the women I dated… all. My worldview and the people really close to me were completely different.
And it is because of these people that are really close to me, past, present, and future, and because I hold Russia to be the bulwark of Orthodox Christianity, I did what I did, and I wrote what I wrote.
- Do you know examples of discrimination against Russians in Spain because of their nationality?
- Yes. Vandalizing shops where Russians work. Bullying by ex-workmates in social networks (mostly by Ukrainians), refusal of service in restaurants, bullying in schools, discontinuing of extra-curricular activities for teens…
- Has anyone contacted you about this yet?
- Yes. One of the cases I took very close. She feels insecure in multicultural district of Madrid and still afraid of the consequences. There’s another situation with a Russian woman in Valencia Community. I recommended to submit her case at the Russian Embassy in Madrid.
Russian speaking community in Spain have contacted me on my Facebook page. They have thanked me for the initiative, and I was very touched. When I created my Fb page, back in 2009, I wanted it to be mainly dedicated to my friends in the East. In my assessment, about 2000 Russians residing in Spain would visit my Facebook page, out of 60,000 Russian diaspora members. My post was shared with friends only, because I did not want wide dissemination because of security issues. I counted that they would spread the words with the rest of Russian population in Spain.
And yet, I was receiving some warning messages, one of those looked like a direct threat on my wall or the messenger. I am still contemplating which course of action I will take.
- What kind of help could you provide for those who suffered form Russophobia aggression? Do Spanish laws provide any kind of punishment for discrimination based on nationality?
- I have contacts in the main political parties, mostly in the actual ruling coalition, and at various levels of the administration, which I am not allowed to disclose at the moment. My help is limited to bring this cases to the attention of our political parties and the Ministry of Labour, Migrations and Social Security. Spanish laws provide harsh punishments for those who incur in this kind of behavior. Moreover, if I recall correctly, crimes that fall in this category do not prescribe. Some complaints have been brought to police authorities, as well.
- Do Spanish newspapers write about examples of discrimination against Russians? What is the official position of the Spanish authorities on this matter?
- Yes, they do quite diplomatically. Their answer has been too far from optimal.
The official position of the Spanish authorities has been twofold. First of all, following the EU directives when it comes to sanctions. This targets specific individuals, companies, etc... At this point, Spain’s hands are tied.
On the other side, the laws concerning discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, exist at the official level. So I would advise to change the behavior to those who have already took such actions.
- How do ordinary Spanish citizens assess the powerful campaign of Russophobia that has unfolded in many countries? We in Russia read in the news that somewhere Russians are fired from work or not hired because of their nationality, somewhere they are not allowed to a restaurant. Many talks about insults and even threats. What can you say about such unprecedented hate?
- Western population is quite different from Eastern population. The Communist era, with all its drawbacks, made political activity compulsory in Eastern Europe, so Eastern Europe is better prepared to assess these kinds of campaigns. But, as the Animal Farm saying goes, “some of them more than others.” I have one, two, maximum three countries in mind. On the other side, Russia used to have frequent military conflicts with other countries in Europe, mostly of defensive nature, against his neighbors. We cannot ignore the fact that a number of countries are resentful towards Russia on account of this and/or the universal rule according to which nations tend to be unfriendly with their neighbors and friends of the neighbors of the neighbors.
Unfortunately, the Western population (and Spain is part of it) have not developed antibodies to these kinds of campaigns. So, my reply to the first part of this question is that mostly they do not realize it exists in the first place.
As a bridge between these two questions, whereas I understand the geostrategic viewpoint of Russia (which is not only due to President Vladimir Putin, but to all the Intelligence community of the Russian Federation), nothing related to him was mentioned in my publication. You read it firsthand. However, a very dear Spanish friend of mine seems to have put at least a “standby” to our friendship on account of all this. It seems that this hostility extends somehow to any who shows sympathy for Russians or their viewpoints.
My reply to the second part of your question is unequivocal. I condemn in the strongest terms all these actions of Russophobia and, sadly, I cannot deny these actions have been taken place.
- Do people in Spain have the opportunity to receive information from the other side? Did the Spanish press write anything about the shelling of Donetsk on March 14 by the Ukrainian military when dozens of civilians were killed?
- No, they do not. And following the UE actions against RT and Sputnik, they are essentially blind to this reality.
Concerning the shelling of Donetsk on March 14th I have not read anything regarding it. If it was indeed published, it did not receive any substantial emphasis. Your question is especially painful, because my very dear friend used to reside in Donetsk, it is very special city to me.
- In addition to the information war, there is also an economic war against Russia; the EU is introducing a whole package of sanctions. And in your opinion, as a resident of EU country, how these measures affect the life of an ordinary European?
- It will affect countries very differently. The colder the country, the higher their energetic needs are. As for Spain, and from the energetic point of view, the situation will be much lighter. In some places in Spain, like Almeria, we have 3000 hours of sunlight per year, and our climate is much warmer than anywhere north of the Pyrenees’ Mountains. Russia has its classical inter; in Spain the summer is the main season. Also, we obtain our gas mostly from Argelia.
Talking about other fields, things are diverse. For instance, our vegetables export sector already received a huge blow during the first wave of sanctions and counter sanctions.
Each country and each market will be affected differently. However, there is an agreement in the Western media (which must be taken with precaution) that so-called Globalization has ended. Consequently, if true, I envision a future where countries will tend to be more self-reliant on their own resources. But, of course, other factors - diplomatic, military, and political, make a part of this equation.
In all, if we put Russia on one side of the scale, and in the other the European Union, I find hard to believe that a country that has one eighth of Earth’s habitable land will lack resources anytime soon.
