Carlos Garay says being a foreigner can be one of the most lonely, isolating experiences imaginable.

The 23-year-old arrived in Oxford three years ago after leaving his home and family in southern Spain. Like many young people he wanted to carve out a life for himself in a foreign land and, on the cusp of the 21st century with the world turning into a global village, this should not have been an impossible challenge.

Carlos GarayWhen Carlos arrived in Britain he thought that European Union labour laws would make it easy to find work and a flat to rent, believing it was people from countries outside Europe who had problems integrating.

But he couldn't have been more wrong. He says he encountered racism from the moment he arrived here, leaving him feeling marginalised, isolated and as if he didn't count.

He had hoped to find a career, financial security and a good future, but language problems made it hard for him to find work and accommodation or find out where he could go for advice and reliable information about the practicalities of living and working in a foreign land.

He says: "I knew it would be difficult when I first arrived here but I didn't realise that I would be met with such hostility. It was so difficult to find my feet and get a job and nobody seemed interested in what I had to offer.

"In the end I found work through an employment agency and they sent me to cafes and restaurants across Oxford. I was treated differently to the way British workers were treated.

"I used to work ten-hour shifts with only a five- or ten-minute break, whereas everyone else worked shorter shifts and had two 30-minute breaks with a meal.

"I got no food at all and was paid much less than the British people doing the same as me.

"I couldn't understand why things were so difficult for me. At one stage I worked as a steward serving drinks and food on trains - that was definitely the worst job I ever had.

"People treated me as if I didn't exist. Conductors and people working at the station would barely acknowledge me, even if I said 'good morning' to them or some other greeting. I am sure it was because I am foreign."

Because Carlos was earning so little money he found it virtually impossible to find affordable accommodation in Oxford.

The only viable option seemed to be to stay with a group of people who were staying in a squat in Cutteslowe.

"I stayed in the squat with four other Spanish guys. We were all in the same situation and so we tended to stick together.

"It was good to have a few friendly faces around me, considering how lonely and isolated I had been feeling at the beginning."

After a few months Carlos and his new friends started house-hunting. They clubbed together and now rent a house in east Oxford.

Carlos signed on to an Open University degree course in social sciences, thanks to financial help from his family in Spain to help him.

He met the editor of the new Oxford poetry anthology Hidden Treasures, Natty Mark, at East Oxford Community Centre and was asked if he would like to write a piece about his experiences for inclusion in the anthology.

He used the opportunity to vent his frustration and anger about the time he had spent in Britain and wrote a poem, called Could Somebody Enlighten Me?, which includes the words: "I don't understand why you and me both, we have two arms, two legs, one heart and some ideas to say, but my ideas are not listened to at all."