{"id":46008,"date":"2026-04-27T11:53:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/46008\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T11:53:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:53:04","slug":"how-pedro-sanchezs-immigration-friendly-stance-sets-spain-apart-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/46008\/","title":{"rendered":"How Pedro S\u00e1nchez’s immigration-friendly stance sets Spain apart in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

MADRID (AP) \u2014 With most European leaders talking tougher about immigration amid a rise in far-right populism and Trump administration warnings that they could face \u201ccivilizational erasure\u201d<\/a> unless they tighten their borders, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez stands apart.<\/p>\n

The Iberian nation has taken in millions of people from Latin America and Africa in recent years, and the leftist S\u00e1nchez regularly extols the financial and social benefits that immigrants who legally come to Spain bring to the eurozone\u2019s fourth-largest economy.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s choice, S\u00e1nchez often says, is between \u201cbeing an open and prosperous country or a closed and poor one.\u201d<\/p>\n

His words stand in stark contrast to other Western leaders, and so far, his bet seems to be paying off. Spain\u2019s economy has grown faster than any other EU nation for a second year in a row, due in part to newcomers boosting its aging workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, Spain\u2019s progress and strong economic situation owe much to the contribution of the migrants who have come to Spain to develop their life projects,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said in July after anti-migrant clashes rocked<\/a> a small southern Spanish town.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Riot<\/p>\n

Riot police officers cordon off the area after migrants arrive on Spanish soil and crossing the fences separating the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco in Melilla, Spain, on June 24, 2022. (AP Photo\/Javier Bernardo, File)<\/p>\n

Riot police officers cordon off the area after migrants arrive on Spanish soil and crossing the fences separating the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco in Melilla, Spain, on June 24, 2022. (AP Photo\/Javier Bernardo, File)<\/p>\n

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Europe\u2019s shifting mood <\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez\u2019s immigration approach, including his remarks about immigrants\u2019 contributions to Spanish society, is consistent with those of the country\u2019s past progressive governments, said Anna Terr\u00f3n Cusi, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute think tank who previously worked on immigration policy for multiple Spanish governments, including S\u00e1nchez\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat has changed a lot internally is that there is now very anti-immigration rhetoric from Vox, especially against Muslim immigrants,\u201d she said, referring to the far-right Spanish party that has been polling third, behind the ruling Socialists and center-right People\u2019s Party. \u201cBut S\u00e1nchez, unlike other European leaders, responds by directly and strongly confronting this narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Centrist leaders across Europe are facing rising pressure from anti-immigrant far-right parties, despite a significant decrease in illegal border crossings into the EU over the past two years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In France, where the once-ostracized National Rally far-right party has built support, centrist President Emmanuel Macron now speaks about what he refers to as \u201cthe migration problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t want the National Rally to come to power, we must address the problem that feeds it,\u201d Macron said last year after France passed new restrictions that he described as \u201ca shield\u201d needed to \u201cfight illegal immigration\u201d while helping to \u201cbetter integrate\u201d migrant workers.<\/p>\n

While running to be German chancellor this year, Friedrich Merz vowed to toughen the country\u2019s migration policy. Days after he was elected, Germany boosted its border security efforts. And in recent weeks, it has presented new figures suggesting a rise in deportations of rejected asylum-seekers and a drop in the number of new asylum-seekers.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Spain's<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, June 29, 2023. (AP Photo\/Virginia Mayo, File)<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrives for an EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, June 29, 2023. (AP Photo\/Virginia Mayo, File)<\/p>\n

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Political risks in Spain<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez\u2019s progressive government, too, has seen pro-immigration proposals stall.<\/p>\n

Last year, it amended Spain\u2019s immigration law<\/a> to facilitate residency and work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the country illegally. At the time, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said Spain needed to add as many as 300,000 taxpaying foreign workers per year to sustain its state benefits, including for pensions, health care and unemployment. Critics, though, said the changes to the law had many shortcomings and even hurt some migrants instead.<\/p>\n

A more ambitious amnesty proposal<\/a> later also endorsed by S\u00e1nchez\u2019 progressive government stalled in Parliament due to its thorny politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were some voices that pointed out that (the amnesty) could have a very big social impact,\u201d said Cecilia Estrada Villase\u00f1or, an immigration researcher at the Pontifical Comillas University in Madrid. She added, \u201cthere is a European context that comes into play. We belong to the European Union, and right now the balance lies in a different place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curbing migrant arrivals by boat from Africa<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez\u2019s government, in conjunction with the EU, has also paid African governments to help stop migrants, from reaching Spanish shores, including many would-be asylum-seekers.<\/p>\n

Most immigrants in Spain enter the country legally by plane. But the relatively few who arrive on Spanish shores in smugglers\u2019 boats dominate headlines and are routinely held up by far-right politicians and media as a sign of what\u2019s wrong with the government\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n

Last year, amid steep rises in the number of people making the dangerous sea crossing from Africa\u2019s west coast to the Canary Islands, S\u00e1nchez traveled to Mauritania with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who pledged 210 million euros<\/a> (around $247 million) of EU money to help the northwestern African country curb migration.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Migrants<\/p>\n

Migrants disembark at the port of \u201cLa Estaca\u201d in Valverde at the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo\/Maria Ximena, File)<\/p>\n

Migrants disembark at the port of \u201cLa Estaca\u201d in Valverde at the Canary island of El Hierro, Spain, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo\/Maria Ximena, File)<\/p>\n

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The efforts seem to be working. Migrant arrivals to the Canary Islands this year are down 60%, which even the government\u2019s critics say is because of governments in Africa stepping up border controls.<\/p>\n

But rights advocates blame S\u00e1nchez\u2019s policies for the violent deaths of migrants in Spain and abroad, such as the 2022 flashpoint in the Spanish enclave of Melilla, in North Africa. In that instance, sub-Saharan migrants and asylum-seekers scaled a border fence<\/a>, which sparked clashes with authorities in which 23 migrants died.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Associated Press a week later, S\u00e1nchez defended how<\/a> Moroccan and Spanish police responded, calling the attempt \u201can attack on Spain\u2019s borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to questions from the AP, a spokesperson from the prime minister\u2019s office said, \u201cour migration policy is effective and responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latin American migrants<\/p>\n

Spain is home to millions of migrants from Latin America, who are fast-tracked for Spanish citizenship and generally integrate easily because of the shared language. <\/p>\n

More than 4 million people from Latin America were living in Spain legally in 2024, according to government figures. The current leading countries of origin for Spain\u2019s immigrants are Morocco, Colombia and Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s central bank estimates the country will need around 24 million working-age immigrants over the next 30 years to sustain the balance between workers and retirees-plus-children.<\/p>\n

But economists say Spain\u2019s millions of immigrants have added fuel to another political fire \u2014 the country\u2019s increasingly unaffordable housing market. Jos\u00e9 Bosc\u00e1, an economist at the University of Valencia, said alongside pressures from overtourism and short-term rentals in cities, Spain hasn\u2019t built enough housing to accommodate its new residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you integrate so many people, but you don\u2019t build more housing, there could be problems,\u201d Bosc\u00e1 said. <\/p>\n

In response, S\u00e1nchez\u2019s government has pledged to fund more construction \u2014 especially of public housing \u2014 and also floated measures to crack down on wealthy foreigners buying second homes in the country. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press reporters Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MADRID (AP) \u2014 With most European leaders talking tougher about immigration amid a rise in far-right populism and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[29024,7147,12,242,307,939,233,1665,493,29023,1431,304,51,6101,305,5172,403,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-46008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pedro-sanchez","8":"tag-anna-terrn-cusi","9":"tag-asylum","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-emmanuel-macron","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-friedrich-merz","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-immigration","17":"tag-jos-bosc","18":"tag-migration","19":"tag-pedro-sanchez","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","22":"tag-spain","23":"tag-spain-government","24":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","25":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116476536792589287","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}