The borderscape of Punta Tarifa: concurrent invisibilisation practices at Europe’s ultimate peninsula
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The borderscape of Punta Tarifa: concurrent invisibilisation practices at Europe’s ultimate peninsulaDate
2015Citation
Ferrer-Gallardo, X., Albet-Mas, A., & Espiñeira, K. (2015). The borderscape of Punta Tarifa: concurrent invisibilisation practices at Europe’s ultimate peninsula. Cultural Geographies, 22(3), 539-547. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474474014547336
Abstract
[Abstract] This contribution aims to provide a cultural–geographical reading of the borderscape of Punta
Tarifa: the southernmost point of so-called continental Europe and a key site vis-a-vis material and
representational Euro-African (dis)connections. It is argued that Punta Tarifa harbours a complex
process of symbolic and functional invisibilisation that turns this border landscape into a highly
significant scenario within the ongoing European Union bordering process. This invisibilisation
process is twofold. On the one hand, it lies with the selective public neglecting/ignoring of a
crucial historical episode which challenges mainstream readings of Europe’s cultural heritage (the
arrival of Tarif and Islam to Tarifa in the year 710). On the other hand, it concerns the veiling of
the implemented migration management practices and, more precisely, the opacity surrounding
the Migrant Detention Centre situated by Punta Tarifa. Having explored the case of Punta Tarifa,
we suggest that a cultural–geographical reading – and hence the shedding of some light – on
these and other similar invisibilisation processes is paramount in order to neutralise symbolic
and functional exclusionary practices which lie at the heart of current European Union external
bordering dynamics.
Keywords
Borderscape
European Union
Migrant detention centre
Punta Tarifa
Strait of Gibraltar
Tarif
European Union
Migrant detention centre
Punta Tarifa
Strait of Gibraltar
Tarif
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Rights
Atribución-NoComercial 3.0 España
ISSN
1477-0881