Contract for immigrants proposed by Popular Party

Government calls Rajoy’s proposal on immigration ‘opportunistic’

María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, the Spanish Vice-President, has criticised the proposal on immigration put forward yesterday by Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the main opposition party in Spain.

His proposal, officially launched yesterday, includes ‘a contract of integration’ based upon certain rules such as respect for Spanish customs which immigrants would be forced to obey. It also includes rules such as forbidding female circumcision and respecting equality between the sexes, but it also refers to maintaining standards of "hygiene" which some groups have found rather offensive and others xenophobic.

When asked yesterday about Rajoy’s idea of a ‘contract of integration’ De la Vega said that many of the measures included in the contract were already covered by Spanish law. She went on to further criticise the leader of the PP saying that just a few days ago his party was talking about an economic catastrophe and now it was trying to stir up feelings on the subject of immigration.

She said that the contract not only asked immigrants to respect Spanish customs but also required immigrants to learn the Spanish language, to pay tax, make an effort to integrate into society and above all return to their country of origin if they do not find work. This could prove to be worrying for the construction and agriculture industries which both rely on immigrants to carry out low-paid jobs which can be temporary.

The proposal put forward by Rajoy is almost an exact copy of the contract that Nicolas Sarkozy introduced in France in 2004 when he was the Home Office Minister. His proposals also included respect for the French way of life and equality between sexes. Under the French system if an immigrant is found not to have followed these principles then they could lose out on welfare benefits or even be deported.

However according to some experts, Rajoy’s proposals have serious drawbacks such as not taking into account how long an immigrant has lived or worked in Spain and paid their taxes or social security. Under Rajoy’s system if they find themselves out of work they could face immediate deportation.

Josep Oliver, Professor of Applied Economics and an expert in the connections between the economy and immigration told Cadena Ser yesterday that two thirds of the jobs created in Spain have been ‘absorbed’ by immigration and that in his opinion immigrants are vital in order for Spain to continue its economic development and growth. He also pointed out that immigration was necessary to counter the drop in the growth of the Spanish population.

Boats of immigrants arrive at Costa Blanca

Mafia groups open up new route for illegal immigrants along the coast of Alicante

According to the government and the Spanish Civil Guard Mafia are using the coastline in the province of Alicante to smuggle illegal immigrants into Spain. With the arrival of at least five boats this weekend along the Costa Blanca in Guardamar del Segura, Pilar de la Horadada, El Campello and Benidorm, local government officials believe that the Mafia are looking for new routes into Spain following the massive increase in security around the coastline in the Canary Islands and Andalucia.

Encarna Llinares, a member of the local government in Alicante pointed out yesterday that the situation was not a total surprise for the security forces and that the government had been expecting this for some time. Llinares said that using the Alicante coastline was a new development but that the local government had been working on measures to deal with this and trying to strengthen coastline security against illegal immigration and drug smuggling. However, despite this, the authorities are still looking for the occupants of 4 of the boats which were found empty, while 6 Algerians were detained following their arrival by boat in Benidorm.

This summer more than 20 boats have arrived on the Murcian coast whereas previously there had only been a couple of cases. Official sources believe that pressure from the Civil Guard on the Andalucian coastline is causing the Mafia who smuggle illegal immigrants into Spain to look further afield to new routes along the into Spain via the coastlines of Murcia, Alicante and even the Balearic islands.

In Murcia security forces have been investigating the possibility of a supply vessel from which immigrants then try to reach Spain in small boats, although this idea had recently been abandoned. However the arrival of 5 boats in various towns in the province of Alicante last Saturday indicate that there is a larger ship out at sea far away from Civil Guard controls from which the immigrants are placed into small boats and sent towards the Spanish coastline.

The first boats arrived in Vega Baja, at 4.30 am and 2 boats arrived in Guardamar del Segura and Pilar de la Horadada at 6.00 am. Two further boats arrived later on at Guardamar and El Campello at 7.00 pm and finally 1 boat arrived in Benidorm at 11 pm. Llinares confirmed that because the route from Africa is too far to travel in such small boats, the government believe that these arrivals are a strong indication that a larger ship is involved. Furthermore, the occupants of the boat which arrived in Benidorm showed no sign of fatigue or sunburn.

The Spanish National Police interrogated 4 of the occupants of the boat which arrived in Benidorm with the aim of trying to establish the details of their journey and collect clues to the routes used by the Mafia to smuggle immigrants into the province.

Foreign residentes outnumber Spaniards in some towns

Foreigners outnumber Spanish citizens in 15 towns in the Valencian Region

According the National Institute for Statistics (INE) there are now 15 Valencian towns where foreigners outnumber Spanish residents. All of the towns are in the province of Alicante, mainly in and around the areas la Vega Baja and Marina Alta. In San Fulgencio 73.9% of those who took part in the censor were foreigners and in the same district Rojales was found to have the second largest foreign population (69.4%). Following these two towns there were a handful of small towns such as Benitatxell, Llíber (63.7%), Teulada (61.9%), San Miguel (60.1%), Els Poblets (60.1%) and Calp ronda (59.7 %) whose foreign population outnumbered Spanish citizens. Foreigners living here were either EU pensioners in search of sunshine or young people from Eastern Europe, North Africa or Latin America in search of work.
Just a few years ago Benitatxell was the only place where foreigners outnumbered the locals.

The European Office for Statistics (Eurostat) calculates that by 2030 the Communidad Valenciana will have a million more inhabitants due to the growing number of foreign residents coming to this area of Spain, an increase of 7.3% of the total population.

Immigration into the area has continued non stop ever since it began decades ago.
Foreigners who have made their home in the Communidad Valenciana are a mix of nationalities consisting of Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and EU countries.

In Algorfa, Alcalalí, Benifójar, L'Alfàs del Pi, Xàbia, Hondón de los Frailes and Torrevieja the proportion of locals made up approximately 50.3% and 57.4% of the population.

According to statistics from the INE the Communidad Valenciana has the second largest immigrant population in Spain consisting of 13.9% of the total population. The Balearic Islands is the first with 16.8% of the population made up of foreign residents.

The Valencianan regional government has warned of lack of resources to cope with its growing immigrant population. It has warned that the civil register could collapse under the significant increase in the number of marriage applications and application for foreign residence permits.

Earnings of immigrant workers in Spain

Funds transferred abroad by immigrants reached record high in 2006

Funds transferred abroad by immigrants in Spain broke the 5,000 million euro barrier last year. Between January and October 2006 the amount grew by 34.7% with respect to the same period the previous year according to the Bank of Spain.

The total amount transferred was 5,002 million euros in 2006 and in the month of October alone 576 million euros was transferred abroad by immigrants, an increase of more than 40% compared to October 2005.

This information shows how the number of immigrants living and working in Spain has grown gradually over the last few years. Since 2002 statistics show that the amount of money transferred abroad by immigrants has increased from 2,844 million to almost 6,000 million euros recorded at the end of 2006. Given this situation, the government has announced measures to reduce bank charges for the transfer of funds abroad.

Related: Immigration in Spain

Situation in the Canary Islands worsens

The situation in the Canary Islands with regards to the unprecedented arrival of immigrants by boat everyday is worsening.

A policeman was attacked by around 20 detainees last Tuesday. Although official sources have dismissed the incident as a minor scuffle the reality of the situation is quite serious. There are only about 30 policemen for the three detention centres and two military bases which are being used to detain around 7000 immigrants.

According to Agustín Brito Machín, the General Secretary of the Spanish Police Confederation in the Canary Islands, the immigrants have been quite docile until now but that due to overcrowding the situation is getting very tense.

He has also asked for between 700 - 1000 extra police to be sent to the Islands to help control the centres to avoid any further serious incidents and to prevent any immigrants escaping. It has also been pointed out that the police normally work 37.5 hours a week but at the moment they are working up to 70 hours.

The incident that occurred last Tuesday happened when a policeman intervened in a fight between two of the detainees. Following this intervention he was surrounded by about 20 detainees who kicked and punched him.

Yesterday, a further 188 immigrants arrived on the Canary Islands in 3 boats. Two in Tenerife and another in El Hierro.

Related:
Spain appeals for help to tackle rise in arrival of illegal immigrants
Migrants die in border fence crush on Spanish border
Legalisation of illegal immigrants in Spain
Foreign residents in Spain
Immigration in Spain
Reform of Spanish immigration laws
Immigrants on hunger strike in Barcelona
Inmigrantes en España

Spain asks for more help to deal with immigration

María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, the Spanish Vice-President, has asked for more help from the European Union to deal with the unprecedented numbers of immigrants arriving in Spain from Africa. The request was made following a meeting with the Finnish prime minister, Matti Vanhanen this week. The request will be made once again in Brussels today at a meeting with the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Durao Barroso.

Spain would like operation Frontex to continue patrolling the international waters between Spain and Africa. This operation is due to end in September. De la vega has requested that it be extended to at least Decemember. Operation Frontex was brought into action last month following the constant arrival of immigrants in boats from Africa.

She also suggested setting up a integrated organisation consisting of Mediterranean countries most affected by the problem of illegal immigration -Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Greece, Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia in order to control maritime borders. She hopes that they can agree on a proposal to be debated at the European Summit in December.

De la Vega believes that illegal immigration is a problem that faces the EU not just individual countries. However, Fiso Roscam, the EU spokesperson on Justice, Freedom and Security, has said that no more help is available and that material help, such as Frontex will only be available until 2007 and that this depends on what each state is prepared to offer voluntarily.

Related:
Spain appeals for help to tackle rise in arrival of illegal immigrants
Migrants die in border fence crush on Spanish border
Legalisation of illegal immigrants in Spain
Foreign residents in Spain
Immigration in Spain
Reform of Spanish immigration laws
Immigrants on hunger strike in Barcelona
Inmigrantes en España

17 Immigrants die in desperate attempt to reach the Canary Islands

It has been reported that up to 17 immigrants lost their lives while attempting to reach the Canary Islands by boat.

The tragedy happened when a gas oven exploded inside the boat. The immigrants had already spent 22 days at sea. It is estimated that the boat was carrying up to 97 passengers in total and that conditions on board were terrible.

This is just one of many tragedies where immigrants have lost their lives in a desperate attempt to reach the Canary Islands. This summer has seen hundreds trying to reach the safety of Spanish shores.

Immigrants keep arriving on the Canary islands

Yesterday more than 500 immigrants arrived on the Canary islands in 7 boats. The Guardia Civil are still searching Lanzarote for another 10 who were in one of the boats.

The largest number, 103, in one boat arrived in La Gomera yesterday morning. All the occupants were male and claimed to be from Senegal and Guinea. Their boat journey is thought to have taken about 10 days. Yesterday 3 boats also arrived on Tenerife.

An agreement has finally been reached with the Senegalese government over patrolling its coastline. Frontex, a European organisation, will put in place naval and air vigilance. Their mission is to look for boats carrying immigrants in international waters. However, if the country where the boats leave from refuse to accept their return they will have to be taken to the Canary Islands. Frontex, will only be patrolling the coastline until September.

Immigration in Spain

The Spanish government has launched a diplomatic offensive to try and find a solution to the ever-increasing number of immigrants arriving to the Canary Islands in boats from Africa. Yesterday Spanish Minister Foreign Affairs referred to the initiative as Plan Africa, and ministers are expected to approve the plan in their weekly cabinet meeting this morning.

Plan Africa involves sending Spanish diplomats to targetted African countries in an attempt to stop the numbers of immigrants arriving in Spain on small precarious boats. Numbers have risen at an alarming rate during the past few weeks and the Government hopes that opening Spanish embassies in countries from which the immigrants are arriving will make it easier to collaborate with governments in those countries and find joint strategies to tackle the growing problem.

Yesterday in just one day nearly 600 Africans were intercepted in various boats on the coasts of the Canary Islands and 33 in boats near the coast of Almería. Countless boats containing thousands of immigrants seeking a better life in Europe have been intercepted by Spanish police over the past few weeks, and the President of the Canary Islands has been critical of Central Government's response to a problem which has streched the resources of the Islands beyond capacity. According to the latest figures, 2,300 immigrants are waiting to be either sent back to their country of residence (the majority) or transferred elsewhere in Spain, depending on their individual circumstances.

Miguel Angel Moratinos has appointed Spain's former ambassador in South Africa to coordinate Plan Africa. From his new headquarters to be set up in Senegal, Miguel Ángel Fernández Maza-Rambroz will direct the work of the new embassies and consulates which the Government intends to open in several sub-saharian countries in Africa including Mali, Gambia, Green Cape, Bissau Guinea, Conakry Guinea and Niger.

During its two years in power, the Socialist Government has increased aid to these countries by 40% each year, but has been unable to influence their policies regarding illegal emigration of their people or to relieve the dreadful conditions many of the immigrants arriving to Spain are fleeing from. The Government hopes that by strengthening cooperation with a physical presence in strategic areas in Africa, it will be easier to address the growing problem with more positive results.

Related:

• Legalisation of illegal immigrants in Spain
• Amnesty period for illegal immigrants in Spain ends
• Inmigrantes en España - useful information for immigrants in Spain (in Spanish).

Migrants die in border fence crush in Ceuta, Spain

At least two African migrants are reported dead this morning in another massive attempt by hundreds of Africans to climb over the border fence separating Ceuta, Spain from Morocco. According to reports on the radio this morning, the "human avalanche" was the result of an attempt of between 500 and 600 to outnumber and overwhelm Spanish border control police by rushing over the fence all at the same time.

Fifty migrants are reported to have succeeded in their attempt to reach Spanish soil, at least 2 (police first put the figure at 6) died in the crush and 30-40 Africans were injured. Police say that none of the injuries were caused by bullet wounds.

Ever day this week the migrants have used the same tactics to cross the fence in Melilla, but this is the first time the Ceutan border fence and police have had to try to contain such a large number of simultaneous attempts to climb over the fence. The migrants mostly come from the Subsaharan countries and have spent weeks crossing Africa on foot before hiding in the nearby mountains and waiting for a chance to cross the border. They are poor, hungry and desperate to reach Spain before the fences separating Ceuta and Melilla from Morocco are doubled in height and before the arrival of the reinforcements from the Spanish army promised by the Spanish government.

Today the Spanish and Moroccan governments are attending a (pre-arranged) summit meeting in Sevilla and one of the main points on the agenda will doubtless be what measures can be implemented to try and tighten border controls on both sides in the face of events this week.

Yesterday when questioned by the Popular Party (whose members have criticised the Moroccan authorities for failing to pick up the thousands of migrants hiding in the mountains), the Foreign Affairs Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, told Spanish congress that the government was satisfied with the level of collaboration between the two governments. He said government efforts were now concentrating on getting similar level of collaboration with the governments of other African states. Moratinos also underlined the opinion of the socialists that any effective attempt to stop the flow of Africans trying to cross the border to Spain and Europe must include policies aimed at reducing the poverty and misery of the nations from which the migrants are trying to escape.

Critics of the Spanish government say the increase in the number of Africans trying to get into Ceuta and Melilla is a direct result of the three-month immigration amnesty in Spain last year when illegal immigrants with a job were granted a residence and work permit. The Spanish government argues that the mass attempts are the result of tighter controls elsewhere along the border.

Related:
New immigration policy in Spain
Reform of Spanish immigration law
End of amnesty period for immigrants in Spain

Amnesty period for immigrants in Spain ends

The three-month amnesty granted by the government to illegal residents in Spain ended last night at nine p.m. Spanish Labour Minister, Jesus Caldera, told the press that during the three months almost 700,000 immigrants have applied for legal residence and work permits.

Caldera said the process had been a great success. According to his calculations, once all the applications have been resolved, the government's amnesty will have legalized the employment of between 80 and 90 percent of illegal immigrant workers, meaning that employers would no longer be able to dodge tax and national insurance payments. He said the fact that the process had succeeded in revealing and regulating a large proportion of the hidden economy should be considered as a great achievement not just of the Spanish government but of the whole of Spanish society. So far 200,000 immigrants have received their permits.

Jesus Caldera also took advantage of the last day of the amnesty to remind Spaniards that from now on employment inspectors would be "inflexible" in their pursuit and prosecution of employers who have failed to take advantage of the three months to legalise the situation of their immigrant employees.

Tomorrow the Labour Ministry launches a new work inspection plan to fight the hidden economy during which over 200,000 visits will be made by work inspectors to places of work in different sectors. Traditionally the sectors most likely to employ immigrants without legal papers are agriculture (seasonal picking), construction, tourism and domestic labour.

Latest figures on foreign residents in Spain

The National Statistics Institute has just published the lastest figures corresponding to the number of foreign residents living in Spain. According to the study, 8.4 percent of Spain's population is non-Spanish.

3.69 million foreign residents live in Spain. In 2004 the total population rose by 770,000 and currently stands at 43.97 million inhabitants. The overall rise in population was largely due to the rise in foreign residents; in 2004 over 650,000 non-Spaniards signed the municipal register for the first time.

The regional break-down shows that Catalonia experienced the highest rise in population in 2004 (170,000 people), followed by Andalusia (142.000), the Valencian Region (129.000) and Madrid (116.000).

Related:
Population in Spain reaches an all-time high
Demographics of foreign population in Spain

Immigrants on hunger strike in Barcelona

Five members of 500-strong group of immigrants who have locked themselves inside various churches and buildings since the weekend had to receive medical attention today. The immigrants have been on hunger strike since Saturday to protest at what they call the unbending rules laid down by the Government in order for illegal workers to legalise their their situation in Spain.

Nearly 500 men from countries in Eastern Europe, North Africa, Asia and South America have squeezed into 5 small buildings and are expected to occupy a sixth today. They say they will continue their hunger strike until they are allowed to put forward their case to the Government's Delegate in Catalonia (each autonomous region in Spain has a Delegado del Gobierno. This post is political, and the delegates job is to represent national government within that region).

The immigrants argue that the need to include a contract and a certificate from their home authorities showing that they have no criminal record in their application for legal residence in Spain, means that thousands of immigrants will be left out of the three months given to them by the Government to legalise their situation.

The fact that most of them have clandestine employment under employers who are unwilling (or "unable" as the protesters diplomatically put it) to meet the extra expenses (mostly national insurance payments) involved in legal contracts, means that many of them are unable to present a contract even if they have been living and working in Spain for years. They also allege that many of them travelled to Spain from small, poor countries whose unstable governments or lack of diplomatic respresentation in Spain makes it impossible for them to obtain the certificate required by the Spanish authorities to prove that they have no criminal record in their native country.

We have received some messages from immigrants in Spain over the past month raising the same problems. Examples can be read in the comments of the articles below. It will be interesting to see how (or if) the government will react to the protest being organised in Barcelona, and also whether or not the Catalan protest will trigger off other ones elsewhere in Spain.

Related:
Legalisation of immigrants in Spain
New immigration law in Spain
Reform of Spanish immigration laws