E/CN.4/2004/76/Add.2 page 18 loans, the need to have permanent residence in order to obtain access to State-subsidized housing or abuses by owners: excessive prices, discrimination on grounds of origin, rental of housing lacking minimum standards of inhabitability. In Barcelona the Special Rapporteur visited the Casernes de Sant Andreu, a disused military facility where persons of different nationalities live, and was able to see for herself the difficulties facing migrants.7 72. Second-generation or unaccompanied minors have great difficulties with integration, especially because, after having acquired training, some are unable to work owing to their illegal status. In addition, they are confronted with marginalization and stigmatization in educational institutions, validation of their studies may take 6 to 18 months, access to non-compulsory education is difficult and school drop-out is widespread. 73. The Special Rapporteur received information and direct testimony about the considerable delays in the processing of family reunification. Several women migrants from Latin American countries mentioned difficulties such as the requirement to obtain a second renewal of a work permit, which takes a long time in Spain, or the documentation of children, which consulates also take a long time in issuing. They further say that, on occasion, refusal of a visa in the country of origin or a negative report by the governmental or employment authorities is insufficiently justified or that the opinions expressed are arbitrary. In order to benefit from family reunification, the person seeking reunification needs a renewed residence or work permit and must provide evidence of means of subsistence sufficient to meet the needs of his or her family. It was stated that in some communities the law had been interpreted to mean that the applicant for reunification needed to have housing in his or her name. 74. The Special Rapporteur was also informed about the vulnerability of women reunited with their husbands who become victims of domestic violence and fear that their situation may be reported, since the current law requires at least two years of cohabitation in Spain in order to obtain an independent residence permit. She was informed that the new reform of the Aliens Act provides for the possibility that women victims of gender violence who have been reunited with their families in Spain may be given an independent residence permit after the issuing of a protection order. The reform also includes provision for authorization of temporary residence for humanitarian reason or for reasons of cooperation with the justice system. 75. The Special Rapporteur noted that the sensationalist image of migration portrayed in the media does not contribute to a proper understanding of the phenomenon. The tendency to associate migration with crime is very disturbing. Distorted data are very often given about the percentage of arrests of migrants without explaining that most are arrested because of their illegal administrative status and not because they have committed crimes. Some migrants told the Special Rapporteur of the social difficulties they encounter and how, on occasion, they suffer xenophobic attacks. Some said that certain areas in some cities had become no-go areas for them because xenophobic attacks were frequent there. IV. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 76. The Special Rapporteur is aware of the efforts Spain is making to comply with the commitments entered into within the European Union. In practice this has mainly entailed an effort to develop the control system on the external frontiers of the European Union. For 7 See correspondence with Spain in Document E/CN/4/2004/76/Add.1.