The European Connection

To say the Spanish economy has faced a hard landing in the last few months is nothing but an understatement. After the bursting of a real estate bubble only comparable to the United States’ (with prices rising on average 247% between 1998 and 2005), Prime Minister Rodríguez Zapatero has overseen an economy constrained by the euro’s strength and thus hemorrhaging jobs.

In this context, the authorities are trying to get rid of illegal immigrants that for many years flocked into Spain to get jobs very few Spaniards were willing to do. Perhaps most interestingly, now Madrid police trade unions have confirmed that the city’s security forces have “quotas” of sin papeles to catch. This applies mostly to Latin Americans overstaying their (usually) generous visas or North Africans who had traveled across the Strait in barges. 

The internal memo leaked to the press not only addressed quotas, but also a “preference for Moroccans,” which according to the report could be repatriated cheaply and swiftly. Although repatriating illegal immigrants must definitely be an EU priority, to do so with police quotas and preference for a particular nationality (which suffers from discrimination in Spain), is not the way to do it.