Melilla border fence: the controversy that avoids talking economics
Audio of women encouraging people to climb the Melilla fence has fuelled conspiracy theories and sexism in Spain, while the underlying economic debate is ignored.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Women, the fence and 'beings of light': a controversy that ignores the economy
Audio of women encouraging those climbing the Melilla fence has sparked a public controversy that has taken a murky turn: conspiracy theories, sens and insults. In the background, the real migration crisis, its cost and its economic implications are left out of the picture.
The orchestration theory
Some claim the crossings are not spontaneous but the result of interested manipulation. There are mentions of a Guardia Civil (Spanish paramilitary police force) that "just watches" and of elites feeding on the population's negative energy. On top of that come hypotheses about foreign powers pulling the strings: from submarines off Ceuta to aircraft near Barbate that, in the worst-case scenario, would be piloted by unspeakable "allies". No one offers documents, only hunches.
The sens drift
The tone of the debate has also degraded, with remarks that objectify migrants and reduce the issue to a grotesque comparison of masculinities. Some point to women's preference for "men of the Atlas" over a supposed local decline. It is fuel for scandal, not for understanding the migration phenomenon.
Where's the economics?
What stands out is that no serious economic analysis has entered the conversation. In a country with a segmented labour market and pronounced demographic ageing, the arrival of working-age people should be a factor to manage, not a taboo. Noise is preferred to data.
The fence still stands, and what we say about it reveals more about our own anxiety than about the border. If the sensual and conspiratorial spectacle keeps dominating the agenda, the heart of the matter —how migration policy is funded and organised— will remain unanswered.
Audio of women encouraging those climbing the Melilla fence has sparked a public controversy that has taken a murky turn: conspiracy theories, sens and insults. In the background, the real migration crisis, its cost and its economic implications are left out of the picture.
The orchestration theory
Some claim the crossings are not spontaneous but the result of interested manipulation. There are mentions of a Guardia Civil (Spanish paramilitary police force) that "just watches" and of elites feeding on the population's negative energy. On top of that come hypotheses about foreign powers pulling the strings: from submarines off Ceuta to aircraft near Barbate that, in the worst-case scenario, would be piloted by unspeakable "allies". No one offers documents, only hunches.
The sens drift
The tone of the debate has also degraded, with remarks that objectify migrants and reduce the issue to a grotesque comparison of masculinities. Some point to women's preference for "men of the Atlas" over a supposed local decline. It is fuel for scandal, not for understanding the migration phenomenon.
Where's the economics?
What stands out is that no serious economic analysis has entered the conversation. In a country with a segmented labour market and pronounced demographic ageing, the arrival of working-age people should be a factor to manage, not a taboo. Noise is preferred to data.
The fence still stands, and what we say about it reveals more about our own anxiety than about the border. If the sensual and conspiratorial spectacle keeps dominating the agenda, the heart of the matter —how migration policy is funded and organised— will remain unanswered.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (25 replies).
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