The PP plays Vox with immigration

If there was still any doubt that the debate on immigration is one of the major fields in which right-wing and far-right parties want to play out the next electoral battles, the meeting of the PP's top brass this Sunday in Murcia and its result make it even clearer. Alberto Núñez Feijóo has taken advantage of the photograph of the unity of all his men to make it clear that the party seeks to attract Vox voters and curb the party's poll numbers by assimilating much of its dangerous rhetoric. Thus, the PP leader's speech was filled with terms related to a "heavy hand" and the populist promises that those sympathizing with the far right want to hear: the direct expulsion of foreigners who commit crimes and those who have come to live "off public aid."

This isn't the first time Feijóo has launched these messages. In recent months, there has already been a trickle of statements showing that the PP is willing to play Vox's game to gain votes by stoking fear abroad and positioning the migration phenomenon as the source of the ongoing social problems. The PP leader also sought to get ahead of the far-right party by contributing what, in his opinion, could be part of the solution to the alleged lack of control, which they believe they can "put a bottle of wine on." Thus, Feijóo has taken an old idea out of his hat and updated it: the points-based visa for foreigners, a sort of plan to have immigration on the menu in which Spain selects those with the greatest right to come and settle in the State.

The way it works, such as adding points to the cultural proximity of the newcomer, opens the dangerous path of establishing good and bad foreigners or distributing supposed identity cards. well integrated with racist criteria. These are tendencies that must be prepared to confront. The response to all these supposed solutions cannot be silence or a slant. It's not easy to refute populism, which resorts to simplistic arguments or those that cater to fear or promise impossible things, but it cannot be abandoned. Especially given where the polls seem to be pointing, which this week placed one in four Catalan voters predisposed to elect parties with xenophobic rhetoric.

The debate on how to confront and manage the migration phenomenon impacts the parties and will surely precipitate debates that must be much deeper than some pretend to win a few votes. Population growth must be a reason to debate the economic model, the increase in inequalities, and the urgent reinforcement of public services, which have been under strain for years and years, and of inadequate public transport. The migration phenomenon, no matter what some promise us, will not end or disappear: if you don't, read the article in this same newspaper where Ricard G. Samaranch explains how the drastic halt in the departure of small boats from Tunisia has diverted the migratory route towards Algeria. What we all have to confront is how we respond: do we want to do so from a place of xenophobia and confrontation? From the fear that some seek to instill? Or from the certainty that policies are necessary that truly work in favor of integration and guarantee equal rights and obligations for all new citizens who join Catalan society?