Spain wants to change immigration law and could make life easier for Brazilians

The articles written by the PÚBLICO Brasil team are written in the variant of the Portuguese language used in Brazil.

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With 6.5 million foreigners, Spain is betting on legalization and making life easier for immigrants who chose the country to live. This is the proposal of a draft published by the newspaper The Country of a new migration policy being prepared by the government of socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez.

Brazilian immigrants would be among the main beneficiaries, since the proposal aims to facilitate the regularization of those who are already inserted in society. Second Itamaraty data for 2023there are 162 thousand Brazilians living in Spain.

Aiming to protect the rights of immigrants, especially those who are in an irregular situation, the project, if approved, will make it easier for workers to obtain documents for their legalization. This will provide better conditions and more stability for those in the country.

The Spanish State budget, sent this week to Brussels, foresees the creation of 1.5 million jobs in the country. To achieve this, thousands of immigrants will be needed. “Europe is currently experiencing a demographic winter, and immigration contributes to the maintenance of the European social model and to the balance of social security”, says, to PÚBLICO Brasil, MEP Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, from the Spanish Socialist Obrero Party (PSOE), who drafted the European Pact for Migration, approved by the European Parliament.

In civil construction alone, the government estimate in Spain is that 1 million people are missing. Not surprisingly, businesspeople in the sector have repeatedly spoken out about the country’s need to attract labor.

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Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, leader of the main opposition party, the right-wing Popular Party (PP), criticizes the possibility of guaranteeing a residence permit temporary for immigrants who commit to professional training in one of the areas that need workers. He is also against lower requirements for immigrant employment contracts.

Santiago Abascal, from the far-right Vox, claims that the proposal encourages uncontrolled immigration. For him, the solution would be the mass deportation of immigrants in Spain. He threatens to overthrow the regional governments that his party has with the PPif Feijóo accepts any measure of the new law.

According to Lopez Aguilar, the discussion raised by right-wing parties is not focused on real issues. “Much of this debate is ideological. Immigration, for many, is seen as a threat. It cannot be discussed in these terms”, he says. “Spain is the only country in the European Union that has a border with an African country, in Cêuta and Melilla. And it has the deadliest migratory route in Europe, in the Canary Islands”, he adds.

He indicates that this is a discussion that runs throughout Europe. “Pedro Sánchez’s proposal is within the principles of the European Union and opposes the position of right-wing and extreme-right governments”, highlights Lopez Aguilar.

For him, proposals from some European Union governments that intend to externalize borders — hand over control to other countries — and create centers to place people seeking asylum in countries outside the economic bloc, as Italy is doing with Albania, are not acceptable. .

“I see with alarm that Ursula von der Leyen (president of the European Commission) is approaching the positions of (Georgia) Meloni, in a direction contrary to the European Immigration Pact”, he observes, referring to the extreme right-wing Italian Prime Minister.

The parliamentarian defends an orderly way of treating immigrants in the European Union. “We came from 10 years of work to put the European Pact on Migration and Asylum into force. I believe this pact deserves a chance. We want the opportunity to be given for the process to operate, in accordance with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights”, he declares.