RACISM and xenophobia is on the rise in Spain due to the credit crunch, research at the Autonomous University of Madrid shows.

Dean Carlo Giménez from the social anthropology department says native Spaniards see foreigners as being in competition with them for jobs and state benefits.

“They start to think, 'it's good that immigrants have rights, but they shouldn't be the same as ours', or 'it's good that they should be able to work, but only in menial jobs', and 'perhaps they should be allowed to vote, but not all of them',” Giménez reveals.

The professor says there should be a concerted public effort to make society think of foreign residents as “neighbours, contributors, patients, parents – at the end of the day, a citizen like any other.”

He says many people are afraid foreigners living in Spain will rob them of their 'identity, language and personal space'.

Giménez reveals that between ten and 12 per cent of Spanish people have very hostile attitudes towards foreigners.

But it is the remaining 80 per cent that concerns him, since he says they show 'distrust' at the notion of immigration.