(Re) Moving borders: North African clandestine emigrant in the age of terror

In the face of Europe’s stringent measures to regulate and monitor the flux of emigrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East, a new type of emigrant has emerged: the harrag or clandestine immigrant who is, on his or her part, determined to push the idea of the political border to its limits. The clandestine immigrant in Spain today is not only regarded as an unwanted guest, a reminder of a past history of violence, but also as a potential terrorist bent on destroying western civilization and its values. This article examines the phenomenon of hrig or clandestine immigration in four Moroccan texts and focusses on three key themes: the persistence of the myth of Europe as an Eldorado, the symbolic disintegration of the harrag’s body, and Spain’s ambivalent vision of its Arab and Muslim Others. The purpose is to demonstrate, through a comparative study, how the harrag exposes the limits of Europe’s discourse on cultural hybridity and national belonging.