{"id":772483,"date":"2026-02-18T11:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/772483\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T11:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T11:26:15","slug":"migration-policy-in-europe-greece-and-spain-take-divergent-paths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/772483\/","title":{"rendered":"Migration Policy in Europe: Greece and Spain Take Divergent Paths"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the summer of 2025, I traveled to Greece for a research trip and, during a break from the \u201cmigration seminars,\u201d I took a walk in the Attiki neighbourhood of Athens. On a nearby wall, a striking piece of graffiti welcoming immigrants loomed as a sharp rebuke to the myths and political lies told about immigrants. The graffiti is a stark reminder that the truth of Europe\u2019s migration policy resides not in the polished legislation or press conferences, but in the margins: the streets, in art, in the voices of those living the consequences of Europe\u2019s migration policy<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

That memory returns now as two Mediterranean European Union (EU) states move in sharply different directions. In Greece, the government is pushing a new migration bill<\/a>, which is likely to entrench a hardline approach against the people seeking protection. On the other hand, Spain has announced plans to legalise<\/a> the status of approximately half a million undocumented migrants, many of whom have overstayed visas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the face of it, these two different directions represent a familiar split in the EU\u2019s migration policy: deterrence versus regularisation, and border control versus integration<\/a>. The contrast begs the question: what does Europe do with the people who are already here, already contributing, already surviving, albeit often without rights?<\/p>\n

Greece: Legislating Deterrence at the Margins of Europe<\/p>\n

Greece has long been positioned as Europe\u2019s gatekeeper<\/a> tasked with preventing migrant arrivals before they reach the EU interior. As a key entry point to the EU, Greece has indeed borne the pressure of arrivals<\/a>, EU border expectations, and domestic \u201cright-wing\u201d politics<\/a>. This has coalesced into a system characterised by overcrowding reception centres<\/a>, legal bottlenecks, and deliberate pushbacks at land and sea frontiers. Rather than addressing these structural fault lines, the draft law of the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum risks normalising them through law.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In explaining the essence of the bill, the Minister of Migration and Asylum, Thanos Plevris, is quoted<\/a> as saying:\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen someone is denied asylum and has violated Greek law by remaining illegally in Greek territory, they will be subject to administrative detention and electronic surveillance and criminal sanctions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The essence of the bill is that migrants who entered the country illegally cannot acquire legal status. In other words, the migrants who are in the country \u201cillegally\u201d will remain \u201cillegal\u201d and face arrest, imprisonment, and deportation.<\/p>\n

The bill has drawn widespread condemnation<\/a> from human rights NGOs, civil society, and left-wing politicians in Greece. They are of the view that the bill is not only strict but will also normalise a logic that has shaped Greek migration governance<\/a> for years: deterrence first, protection second.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Arrested refugees at the Fylakio Detention Center, Evros, Greece, Oct. 9, 2010. Photo Credit: Ggia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Giorgos Psychogis<\/a>, the deputy leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA-PS), and civil society organisations warn that the new migration law would expand detention practices, restrict procedural mechanisms, and intensify penalties, pushing migrants into legal precarity rather than lawful status.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The draft law is condemned on the following legal bases:<\/p>\n

Overly restrictive \u201csecond chance permit\u201d:<\/b> Article 40 excludes long-term residents who became irregular due to administrative or formal errors, despite deep social and family ties to Greece, exemplified by long-standing migrant workers facing deportation.<\/p>\n

Residence permits tied to short-term unemployment:<\/b> Provisions allowing permit loss after just 3\u20136 months of unemployment create chronic insecurity, particularly harming migrants in seasonal and precarious sectors.<\/p>\n

Problematic and regressive policy language:<\/b> The use of the term \u201cillegal immigration<\/a>\u201d is condemned as politically charged, outdated, and inconsistent with international and official diplomatic terminology.<\/p>\n

Erosion of integration and civil society protections:<\/b> The abolition of the ten-year permit for unaccompanied minors and restrictions on NGOs undermine long-term integration efforts, the rule of law, and the right to association, prompting calls to limit administrative detention and adopt rights-based reforms.<\/p>\n

Arguably, by codifying exclusion, Greece\u2019s approach has made protection conditional, procedural, and increasingly inaccessible. Harsh measures are defended as necessary to discourage arrivals, even as evidence<\/a> shows that people continue to move despite rising risks. Conflict, persecution, and economic precarity do not disappear because borders harden. Instead, migration routes<\/a> become more dangerous, increasing reliance on smugglers and intensifying human suffering.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Refugees on a boat crossing the Mediterranean sea, heading from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, Jan. 29, 2016. Photo Credit: Mstyslav Chernov\/Unframe.<\/a>
\nSpain: Regularisation as Recognition of Social Reality<\/p>\n

As Greece adopts a punitive approach, Spain tilts towards regularisation and integration.<\/p>\n

Elma Saiz<\/a>, Spain\u2019s minister for inclusion, social security, and migration, views the policy as a \u201cmigratory model based on human rights, on integration and on coexistence that\u2019s compatible with both economic growth and social cohesio.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201c\u2026legality is a pathway to dignity and not a reward for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The regularisation programme aims to legalise 300,000-500,000 undocumented migrants and will be implemented between April and June 2026. The core objective<\/a> of the formalisation of undocumented migrants is to bring people already living and\/or working in Spain into the legal labour market. This will enable them to pay taxes and contribute to social security, rather than remaining in the shadows of the informal economy.<\/p>\n

To qualify for the programme, the applicants must not have a criminal record and should already have been in Spain before Dec. 31, 2025. The applicants should also prove at least five months of continuous residence and meet\u00a0at least one\u00a0of the following criteria:<\/p>\n