El País defends immigration as integral to Spain

El País defends immigration as integral to Spain

The August 18, 2024 editorial in El País newspaper asserts that Spain can no longer be understood without its foreign-born population and identifies racism as the true danger. The piece arrives amid a sharp rise in irregular arrivals: 31,155 people by August 15, a 66% increase over 2023, with the Canary Islands route surging 126%. The text calls for managing the phenomenon rather than promising magical solutions and criticizes discourses linking immigration to crime without evidence. Reactions were immediate: ranging from direct insults to demographic analysis, including calls to ban NGOs and warnings that this trend is irreversible.

What exactly does the El País editorial say?

The article opens with official figures: Spain is the second EU country, after Greece, with the highest growth in irregular migration this year. The Canary Islands route accounts for the largest increase, with over 13,000 arrivals in the first half of the year alone from Mauritanian coasts. For the first time, Malians are the most numerous nationality among irregular arrivals, which the paper interprets as proof that Sahel wars are displacing thousands.

The editorial goes beyond data. It highlights that the Canary Islands have had collapsed child reception services for ten months—housing nearly 6,000 minors, triple their capacity—and that Ceuta has just requested state aid for 416 minors when its maximum is 130. It criticizes the refusal of PP, Vox, and Junts to reform the Foreigners' Law (Ley de Extranjería) to establish mandatory distribution. It concludes: irregular migration is minimal compared to legal migration, and the Spanish economy would collapse without foreigners.

The numbers supporting the paper's thesis

El País uses data from the INE (National Statistics Institute) and Banco de España. Of the 48.8 million inhabitants, 8.7 million (17.8%) were born abroad. Nearly one in four minors born in Spain (22.3%) has at least one foreign parent. In the first half of 2024, four out of ten new jobs were filled by foreigners, who now make up 13.6% of the employed. Their activity rate, at 78%, is among the highest in the EU.

With these foundations, the editorial concludes that diversity will continue to grow and is neither a threat nor a undermining factor for social cohesion. Antiestéticar, hate, and racism are. The final phrase is a jab: "You won't stop it; we won't let you. Forget the Spain you knew," added by the user who shared the text on the forum, not by the newspaper.

The reaction: from insult to demographic analysis

The response on the forum was a catalog of stances. Some label the editorial a pamphlet and demand summary trials for journalists. Others, like the user signing as el segador, apply the logic of the pull effect: "The more you take in, the more will come; it's basic logic." Accusations of paid treason run through several messages, referencing subsidies received by the PRISA group.

Not everything is rhetoric. One participant provides revised figures as of January 1, 2024: Spanish nationals, 42,101,407; born in Spain, 39,817,696. Another notes that Spain shares migration figures with the UK despite having a smaller population: 1,200,000 arrivals and 500,000 departures in 2022. A third points out that the net migration balance accelerated to 727,005 people in 2022, with over 544,000 arriving in the second half of the year.

The economic argument: talent or cheap labor?

The editorial's economic defense—that the economy would collapse without immigrants—is met with harsh criticism. One message summarizes the objection: "It says the article will keep bringing talent. I don't know where they get that conclusion; rather, unqualified people arrive, fit only for primary jobs." Another adds that the regime thus obtains lower labor costs, benefiting employers and officials.

Banco de España and INE are the sources cited by the paper to support the opposite view: the 78% activity rate and 13.6% foreign employment share. Those rebutting the editorial do not dispute these figures but their interpretation: for some, the contribution is essential; for others, it puts downward pressure on wages and public services.

Unaccompanied minors: the hottest point

The editorial dedicates a paragraph to unaccompanied minors, splitting the forum. Some demand returning them to their families and call keeping them state kidnapping. Others defend that the Canary Islands and Ceuta are overwhelmed and inter-territorial solidarity is mandatory. The reform of the Foreigners' Law requested by El País—a fixed distribution system—is rejected by PP, Vox, and Junts, according to the paper itself.

The discussion shifts to NGOs. One message demands banning them for collaborating with mafias: "Picking up illegals in sites contracted with mafias IS NOT RESCUING CASTAWAYS." Another, along similar lines, speaks of fraud against the law and contacts with traffickers. None of these accusations are supported by data in the material, but they mark the tone of part of the debate.

The culture war: racism vs. pull effect

The editorial closes with a definitive statement: "Antiestéticar, hate, and racism" undermine cohesion. On the forum, that phrase boomerangs back. Several messages argue that real racism comes from those arriving, not those receiving. Others warn that the word racist is being worn out by overuse, just like 'reaccionario' or far-right.

The discussion is framed within a European context mentioned by the paper itself: The Netherlands will declare a migration emergency and request voluntary exclusion from common policy, according to a tweet reproduced on the forum. The editorial recalls that immigration has influenced elections in the UK, France, Italy, and the Netherlands. No one has the global answer, admits El País. And there, precisely, the disagreement continues.

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Is racism the main threat, or is it the lack of border control? The editorial is clear; the street is less so.