Eight in ten of Spain's new unemployed in July are foreigners

Eight in ten of Spain's new unemployed in July are foreigners

Eight in ten of Spain's new unemployed in July are foreigners. Only 32% were contributing to social security. The figure has peine an uncomfortable question: is immigration worsening the public deficit, or is it the symptom of a productive model that can no longer sustain the system?

In a country with one of the highest structural unemployment rates in Europe, the arrival of foreign labour is viewed from two opposing trenches. Some argue that labour integration is so precarious that most newcomers do not even generate contribution rights; at the other extreme, others contend that the blame lies not with the immigrant but with a labour market that only offers low-wage, low-training jobs.

A fiscal profile that doesn't add up

The 32% contribution figure is the heart of the controversy. A damning profile has also circulated: according to one line of argument, 90% of those contributors lack a secondary school diploma, condemning them to low-productivity occupations. From there, it is a short step to the conclusion that they contribute crumbs to the public purse, a step many take without blinking. Others qualify this: it is not their fault, it is the kind of employment they are offered.

Employers, the state and debt

Another line of argument points directly at employers: hiring workers on low-hours contracts remains profitable in the short term, even though the system as a whole loses out. A third front blames the state: the system runs on debt and will only survive as long as that debt can be sustained. Removing foreigners would not fix the underlying problem; it would merely make it visible.

The final question has no answer in the available data: if there were no immigrants tomorrow, would pensions collapse, or would the adjustment fall on a generation that helped destroy the productive model? The state of the debate suggests that nobody wants to foot that bill.