Why is the Immigration Law proving to be a challenge for the ruling and opposition parties in Spain?
As illegal migration remains a challenge for the entire Europe, Spain is also facing its share of challenges in this area. Considering the gravity of the illegal migration crisis, Spain proposed reforms to the Immigration Law which were scheduled for a debate in the parliament. However on July 23, the lower house of the Spanish parliament, Congress of the Deputies, rejected the draft for reforming the existing Immigration Law.
This proposed amendment was aimed at making distribution of the unaccompanied minors from foreign countries mandatory across various autonomous communities in Spain.
In the past few years, Spain has seen a sharp increase in minors and teenagers, particularly from Africa, entering the Spanish city-enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and the autonomous community of Canary Islands.
The debate in the parliament over the changes in the legislation pertained to the influx of 6000 underage migrants to Ceuta, Melilla and Canary Islands. This number exceeded the hosting capacity of these regions by 150 percent which is why there arose a need for distribution of the migrants to other autonomous communities.
The reforms which were proposed by the ruling Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), Sumar and Coalición Canaria (CC) were defeated as 177 members of parliament from the opposition parties like Partido Popular (PP), Vox and Junts (Catalan separatist party) voted no as against 171 members who voted yes. There was one abstention. Canary Islands has been requesting Madrid for help to address the issue of unaccompanied foreign minor migrants since the start of this year.
Some of the reforms suggested were integration of the migrants in the labour market, facilitating their education, providing them occupational training and giving them residence permit of 12 months if they have remained in Spain for two years and have undertaken training for employment.
Although the PP had initially agreed with the government on the issue of distribution of minor migrants, the right-wing party has called for a long-term solution to this challenge instead of a stop-gap arrangement. The PP has opposed the amendments to the Immigration Law in the parliament on various grounds. The PP has demanded that the PSOE-led government needs to convene a meeting of the presidents of all the autonomous communities and discuss the matter with them. Also the PP wants to resolve this issue through the mechanism of European Union (EU) by engaging with the countries from where the illegal migrants originate, more specifically Morocco. The PP has accused the government of not taking strong actions against the mafia that are involved in this illegal migration.
The apparent sparring between the ruling and the opposition parties has a reflection of the recent political developments in Europe which the two parties are interpreting as beneficial to their respective political interests in Spain.
For the PSOE, the success of the left-wing parties in the elections in the United Kingdom and France are a welcome development. The PSOE considers this as a bulwark against the right-wing wave that swept across Europe in the European parliamentary elections held in June. It also means that the PSOE is looking to consolidate its position since it does not command a majority in the Spanish parliament. Projection of liberal policies towards underage migrants is one of the measures to portray the ruling party’s commitment to the humanitarian issues in Europe.
For the PP, the success of the right-wing parties in the European parliamentary elections is an encouraging prospect. The PP is the single largest party in the Spanish parliament although it also does not have the majority on its own. With the rise of the right-wing in the European parliamentary elections, the PP is hoping for an improved performance of its own in Spain. For this reason, the PP’s president Alberto Nuñez Feijóo has called for elections to be held in Spain as the PP believes that it could overturn the results and form the next government.
While the PP is opposed to illegal migration, it has been careful to project itself as aligned to the EU’s policies. It implies that the PP is presenting itself as a part of the moderate faction among the right-wing parties. This has caused Vox, PP’s coalition partner in the regional governments in several autonomous communities, to break the coalition. Vox is considered among the hardline right-wing parties in Spain and is also considered as Eurosceptic. The PP maintains that the friction with the Vox is unlikely to affect the former’s political standing in Spain and in the regional governments.
Illegal immigration has long been a challenge for Europe. Spain, being one of the main gateways to Europe for Africa, remains the country that is most affected by this issue. While illegal migration has economic and security dimensions, in Spain at the moment this matter has increased the political complexities for the ruling and the opposition parties.
Niranjan Marjani
Niranjan Marjani is an Independent Political Analyst and Researcher.
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