Vox proposes mass deportations and nationality audits in Spain

Vox proposes mass deportations and reviewing nationalities

Imagine being told one day that the citizenship you obtained years ago is under review and, if you fail the audit, you revert to foreign status in the country where you work and pay taxes. This is what Vox’s economic and housing program, presented at a public event according to El País, proposes. The document includes measures such as "reversing illegal immigration regularizations carried out by the two-party system," which would affect more than a million people residing and working in Spain, and "auditing nationality grants to see how many must be revoked," meaning foreigners who have already become Spanish citizens would lose their status. Additionally, the party proposes "mass deportations," a measure prohibited by Spanish legislation and international treaties, which require individualized examination of each expulsion case.

The foreign population figure that doesn't add up

The document claims that "if the foreign population was 1% of the total in 1996, it now exceeds 20%." However, the latest data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) for the first quarter of the year indicates there are 6.9 million foreigners in Spain, equivalent to 14.1% of the population. In contrast, there are 9.4 million inhabitants born outside Spain, representing 19.3% of the total. The difference is key: Vox counts nearly three million Spaniards born abroad as foreigners. Based on this premise, MP Carlos Hernández Quero, a history PhD, defended from the podium the Spanish version of the "great replacement," the conspiracy theory claiming globalist elites plan to replace European populations with Muslim immigrants. "By 2045, Spaniards will be a minority in our own country," he asserted, citing unidentified "estimates."

The cost of immigration according to Vox

Hernández Quero vaguely referred to "various studies," which he did not cite, to assert without proof that "the extra cost of immigration in Spain is over €30 billion per year." He also blamed immigrants for low wages and precarious jobs, saturated public services, "having a direct and harmful impact on neighborhood insecurity," and even rising rental prices and housing shortages. "They do not pay our pensions nor save our welfare state," the document states. These claims contrast with the lack of supporting data and the fact that, according to the INE, the foreign population in Spain is 14.1%, not 20%.

Regularizations, nationality, and the term «remigration»

Vox wants to "reverse all mass regularizations carried out by the two-party system." Although the document does not detail them, six regularizations were successively implemented by the governments of Felipe González, José María Aznar, and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, legalizing nearly 1.2 million people. To these must be added more than half a million immigrants who could benefit from an extraordinary regularization currently being processed in Congress. Furthermore, the party proposes "reserving social aid for Spaniards," as well as "hiring incentives and bonuses," combating "fraudulent registration" (empadronamiento), and prohibiting irregular immigrants from renting housing. "Spaniards first, always," proclaimed Hernández Quero. The document also incorporates the term "remigration," coined by the German far-right to refer to the expulsion of residents of foreign origin, even those with citizenship, who do not demonstrate "good assimilation."

Leader's reaction and political context

In his closing speech, Vox leader Santiago Abascal again attacked the PP. Although he met with Popular Party president Alberto Núñez Feijóo in Congress last Wednesday for the first time since September 2023, this did not soften his tone: "The problem is not just the PSOE's betrayal, but the PP's scam. I say it with as much sorrow as clarity," he stated. Vox's proposals join a European debate on immigration and rights, where the German far-right already uses the term "remigration" and where mass regularizations have been constant in Spain since the nineties. The document does not detail how the revocation of nationalities would be carried out or what criteria would determine "good assimilation," leaving many unknowns about the practical application of these measures.

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Key data from Vox's program

• Foreign population in Spain: 6.9 million (14.1%) according to the INE.
• Population born outside Spain: 9.4 million (19.3%).
• Regularizations since 1996: six, with nearly 1.2 million people legalized.
• Possible regularization in process: more than half a million beneficiaries.

Vox's program not only hardens its discourse but proposes measures that, according to experts, would clash with current legislation and international treaties. The proposal to revoke nationality from those who legally obtained it opens a legal can of worms with unpredictable consequences. Meanwhile, the party still fails to clarify the source of the figures used to justify its policies.