The country’s socialist leaders argue that immigrants are necessary to offset low birth rates
More than ten million people living in Spain were born abroad, according to newly-released government statistics. Despite facing an ascendant right wing, the country’s government has doubled down on its pro-migrant policies.
Out of a total population of 49.5 million, more than 10 million people were born in other countries, according to information published by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) on Thursday. Spain’s foreign-born population has almost doubled in the last decade, while its native population has shrunk by more than one million due to low birth rates and emigration.
Moroccans are the largest immigrant group, with 1.17 million living in Spain, followed by Colombians and Venezuelans, at 980,000 and 690,000 respectively. 144,600 Colombians, 94,000 Venezuelans, and 96,300 Moroccans arrived last year alone.
Alongside the influx of immigrants, Spain’s right-wing Vox party has surged in popularity, going from 2% in opinion polls in 2018 to 18% this month, according to an aggregate compiled by Politico. Vox currently holds 33 out of 350 seats in parliament, but doubled its seats in regional elections in Extremadura in December and Aragon on Sunday.
Vox advocates the deportation of all illegal immigrants and the tightening of immigration and citizenship laws. The party published an economic and housing manifesto last year calling for the “remigration” of legal immigrants who fail to integrate into Spanish society, and the “mass deportation” of more than a million illegal immigrants granted legal status by Spain’s left-wing government.
The government has shown no signs of reversing course. Last month, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that he would legalize more than half a million illegal immigrants living in Spain. The move was condemned by the right and criticized by EU officials in Brussels, who warned that it would essentially grant these migrants free passage to travel across the bloc’s border-free Schengen zone, at a time when the EU is attempting to stem the inward flow of migrants.
Sanchez defended his decision in a New York Times op-ed, claiming that “the West needs migrants” to keep its economies afloat, and that Spaniards have a “moral duty” to become a “welcoming and tolerant society” for newcomers.
MEP Irene Montero, whose Podemos party governs with Sanchez’ socialists, went a step further. “I hope for ‘replacement theory’,” she told a crowd of supporters last month. “I hope we can sweep this country of fascists and racists with migrants.”
🇪🇸 | The leader of the Spanish far-left admits at an event that she is in favor of replacing the native population with foreigners to alter voting dynamics:
«I hope for ‘replacement theory,’ I hope we can sweep this country of fascists and racists with immigrants. Whatever their… pic.twitter.com/f4vzpGx7jn
The Swiss government announced on Wednesday that it would deal with the country’s rising immigrant population differently: by holding a referendum on whether to cap the total population at ten million. The population cap was proposed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), who argue that a “population explosion” is inflating housing prices, straining public services, and causing an overall decline in living standards.
Should the current population of 9.1 million approach ten million, the SVP supports a ban on new arrivals, including asylum seekers and the families of foreign residents.
