London: A Latin American City?

London is recognised as being the most cosmopolitan city on earth, but some of its communities are more visible than others. In Tower Hamlets, where I live, the Bangla presence is obvious, as are the Arabs along the Edgware Road. But I doubt whether many Londoners realise just how many Latin Americans there are around, even though one increasingly hears Spanish and Portuguese being spoken in the streets. Estimates vary on actual numbers, because of the sizeable number of over-stayers and illegal immigrants. But the Brazilian Embassy in London believes that there are up to 300,000 Brazilians in the country (the majority in London), and there are thought to be a roughly equal number of Spanish-speaking Latins, mainly from Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The first noticeable wave came in the mid-1970s, when Chileans in particular were fleeing persecution. This coincided with my own arrival in London, working for Reuters before being sent off to Brussels, and I remember how the Chileans used to gather and play football on Clapham Common. South London still hosts the biggest concentration of ‘latinos’, notably in Southwark and Lambeth (where there is a significant Portuguese community, too). Each summer there is a big Carnaval del Pueblo in Camberwell, the latest held last Sunday. And there are several South American shops and cafés in the Elephant and Castle shopping centre (soon due for demolition!).

On Friday, I joined Caroline Pidgeon, Deputy Leader of Southwark Council, and Gloria Gomez, a prominent member of the expatriate Colombian community and a LibDem member, at the Café Nova to discuss some of the concerns that Gloria and her colleagues have, notably regarding the situation of the ‘invisibles’: people, often with families, who are here unregistered, who can’t work legally, or who miss out on services. It’s not just that they don’t get all the benefits of life in Britain; they aren’t able to contribute fully either, including taxes. Hence the creation of the ‘Latin Front’,  in which Gloria is deeply involved. The Front is campaigning for (1) Latin Americans to be recognised as an ethnic minority in the UK, (2) regularisation (i.e. legal status) for children born in the UK, irrespective of their parents’ status, (3) free movement within the European Union, and (4) the right to vote for all residents.

These are issues affecting many EU states, which means that some sort of co-ordinated action is desirable. In the meantime, the Liberal International British Group, which I chair, will be be holding a fringe meeting on Migration and related issues at the LibDem Conference in Brighton next month, to which Gloria has been invited.

Link: www.carnavaldelpueblo.co.uk