Taboos, Haunting, and the Spectre of Immigration in Contemporary Spanish Cinema

Abstract

Building on Jo Labanyi’s influential 2006 work, this article refocuses her analysis of the haunting motif on a pressing contemporary issue in Spain: immigration. While Labanyi explores how ghosts represent repressed fears associated with the Spanish Civil War, this study extends the metaphor to challenge outdated notions of ‘Spanishness’ in the face of the country’s evolving multicultural identity. Two films by Chus Gutiérrez, Poniente (2002) and Retorno a Hansala (2008), show how this haunting theme now encompasses immigration and underscores the need to confront both historical and current challenges. In these films, spectral figures represent not only Spain’s unresolved past, but also its future, urging a redefinition of national identity that embraces cultural diversity. As with earlier works on the Civil War, Poniente and Retorno a Hansala call for a collective reckoning with Spain’s complex, hybrid identity.