Regardless of the origin of the “violation of Spain’s territorial integrity” by more than 70,000 people from Morocco, the reality is that the presence of an undetermined number of them 40 days later (only 200 have been expelled according to Minister Torres in an interview with La Vanguardia yesterday) is creating a problem that cannot be allowed to fester. Education is needed. I am not talking about Ceuta, where citizen outrage and fear are understandable given the situation it is experiencing, but about the rest of Spain, where immigration, until recently, was not seen as a problem.
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In September 2024 first, then this July, the CIS placed immigration as the top problem for Spaniards, in reaction to more frequent arrivals, due to summer, or this July, coinciding with the regularization process. What is the reason that Spaniards consider immigration one of the main problems Spain has and yet live with immigrants in a natural and mostly problem-free way? It is certain that the August barometer will raise that concern, as Spain’s weaknesses in safeguarding its borders have been exposed.
Calling immigrants invaders starts a breeding ground we will regret
But there are more reasons, and some depend on ourselves or, rather, on us journalists, social leaders, and especially political leaders, because words are not harmless. Obviously, I am not talking about all politicians. I have not heard any leader from Sumar or PSOE say, as Vox deputy José María Figaredo said, that they had to “hunt them all, one by one,” referring to the immigrants who had entered Ceuta, and he has not retracted it, nor will he, because it aligns with many other leaders of his party, especially Santiago Abascal. It has been the PP who has embraced the invasion theory and, therefore, call immigrants invaders. It starts like this, and the words are repeated by citizens without thinking, but they stick, and a breeding ground begins that we will come to regret.
We must not accept it. In Spain, immigration has gradually become part of our lives; they are already part of us, including all those citizens now Spanish residents, who work with us and for us. There were 1,200,000 regularization applications, of which about 600,000 have been accepted for processing, and 340,000 have already been positively resolved. But they have been living with us for more than two years, working, their children go to school, and they have found a place to live in Spain.
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Some seem determined to make immigration a problem, especially when Spaniards accept it more normally than political leaders. They are not invaders. If after 40 days sleeping outdoors, without shelter, eating poorly and living badly, there are between 8,000 and 10,000 people willing to endure those conditions, they are not coming to invade anything, but to seek a better life, even if they have made a mistake in the method.
Spain has shown that there is no rejection of immigration. At least that is what sociological studies commissioned by the NGO porCausa indicate, although they also emphasize that Spanish public opinion is excessively vulnerable to informational peaks related to immigration, so an abundance of biased, tendentious, or alarmist news repeated intensely reinforces xenophobic opinions, for a limited time. Again, words, which are not harmless.
By the way, of the regularization applications submitted in the current process, 23% are Colombians; Moroccans are 13%, and Venezuelans are third. 67% of those applications come from Latin American countries. Reflect on that!
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