The economics behind VOX's immigration rhetoric in Spain
The debate over the Ceuta border hides an economic calculation nobody makes: who ends up footing the bill? An analysis of VOX's immigration discourse.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
The immigrant is just the finger: who is the moon?
Claiming that immigration is an invasion and that those who climb the fence are hired thugs costs nothing. Backing it up with data costs a little more: it requires answering an uncomfortable question: who is funding whom?
The debate over the Ceuta border has an economic angle few want to name. On one side, VOX is accused of incivil immigrants with phrases like "dipping into Spaniards' pockets to keep them." On the other, the response is that the real culprit is the government that allows entry: "no welfare, no migrants." The immigrant is the finger, the Government the moon.
What gets forgotten is that Ceuta is governed by the PP (Spain's conservative People's Party) and that borders fall under the Ministry of the Interior. Administrative responsibility blurs as the rhetoric radicalizes. The strongest economic argument in the debate is that migration flows respond to incentives: where there are benefits, there are arrivals. But that same logic applies to the rhetoric industry: where there is antiestéticar, there are votes.
As long as the debate stays on these terms, the only calculation never made is the real cost of a coherent migration policy. And no one will make it: it simply works too well as an electoral weapon. The bill, as always, is paid by those who have no say.
Claiming that immigration is an invasion and that those who climb the fence are hired thugs costs nothing. Backing it up with data costs a little more: it requires answering an uncomfortable question: who is funding whom?
The debate over the Ceuta border has an economic angle few want to name. On one side, VOX is accused of incivil immigrants with phrases like "dipping into Spaniards' pockets to keep them." On the other, the response is that the real culprit is the government that allows entry: "no welfare, no migrants." The immigrant is the finger, the Government the moon.
What gets forgotten is that Ceuta is governed by the PP (Spain's conservative People's Party) and that borders fall under the Ministry of the Interior. Administrative responsibility blurs as the rhetoric radicalizes. The strongest economic argument in the debate is that migration flows respond to incentives: where there are benefits, there are arrivals. But that same logic applies to the rhetoric industry: where there is antiestéticar, there are votes.
As long as the debate stays on these terms, the only calculation never made is the real cost of a coherent migration policy. And no one will make it: it simply works too well as an electoral weapon. The bill, as always, is paid by those who have no say.
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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 (10 replies).
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