Using different laws to control immigrant street vendors in Barcelona

What is it about?

This article is about how laws that may at first sight have nothing to do with the control of immigration (like municipal bylaws about zoning and permits, or criminal law about counterfeit products) may in fact be used with the effect of pushing out groups of immigrants from various parts of this touristic city. Because different police forces are responsible for enforcing these distinct laws, the article also shows how the control of immigrants in the city involves police forces that, at first sight, have no power over immigration.

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Why is it important?

This article is important at three levels: 1) it makes a theoretical contribution to debates about what has often been discussed in scholarly work as "crimmigration" or the criminalization of immigration; 2) it shows the negative impact on immigrants with precarious status of their control through many different kinds of laws and police forces; and 3) it makes an empirical contribution to understanding the particular case of street vending in Barcelona.