Five uncomfortable questions about immigration
Immigration must be discussed, we cannot bury our heads in the sand: can ten million people fit in Catalonia? This is the star rhetorical question that has taken hold of public opinion and fuels the far-right's xenophobic discourse. It is their main ideological fuel. The implicit conclusion: too many people are coming from outside. Of course, many of those who ask the question do not consider themselves xenophobic or far-right. But they have been caught in the net of great suspicion against newcomers, whom they blame for all our ills: the housing shortage (as if the real estate crash and tourism had not been decisive), the education crisis (as if it were not a global crisis), the strain on healthcare (it is ignored that the immigrant population is much younger and uses little healthcare), the stagnant vitality of the Catalan language (it is absurd to blame new speakers we want to attract), job insecurity (but the minimum wage has gone from €648 in 2015 to €1,221 in 2026)... Immigrants are an easy scapegoat to point to and be attacked.
The alternative question remains hidden, because it is uncomfortable: how many immigrants do we need to move forward the economy, social services, and the country as a whole? This, of course, is also rhetorical. We all know that someone has to take care of the nonagenarian grandmothers and grandfathers in homes or residences, someone has to serve tourists in bars and hotels, someone has to work in the agri-food sector, someone has to clean houses, etc. The shift towards a higher value-added economy is a goal shared by everyone, and everyone also knows that, in the best of cases, it requires a transition of years and, in the worst, it is a wish as easy to formulate as it is difficult to fully achieve. Will we give up tourism revenue? By the way, many Catalans are workers who receive more than they contribute in taxes. What do we do with them? Do we also expel them? Or stigmatize them as "deficits"? And, undoubtedly, to advance strategic industrial and technological sectors in a globalized world and an open economy, it will continue to be necessary, for some time, to import a lot of talent: many expats. They are also immigrants.
There is a third relevant question that almost no one asks. If we managed to implement strong and effective birth policies (substantial aid to young couples to have children) and there was a significant increase in births, could we then afford a Catalonia with ten million inhabitants? Is the problem the number or that they are not native? The same people who point to immigrants ask us to have more Catalans... What's the consensus?
The fourth question was repeated in different ways by Pope Leo XIV during his visit: can we afford to disregard people fleeing wars, famine, and misery? Can we let them die at sea? Can we hide them on the margins, living in shacks or substandard housing? Or do we directly expel them? Europe's latest response is yes: that's what the Return Regulation, celebrated in the Eurochamber by the far-right with the cry of "send them back!", is about, a regulation that opens the door to forced deportations, including minors, through, if necessary, house searches and interventions in aid organizations' premises. And it allows expelled individuals to be sent to third countries in potential European guantánamos.
There is still a fifth question. Without the immigration of the last 150 years, what would Catalonia's situation be? Well, it would have a very reduced economic and demographic weight within Spain (natural growth would have left us with less than 3 million), Barcelona would not be a globally successful city, Catalan would have far fewer speakers, etc. Catalonia has been and is a nation of immigrants, just like Argentina or the USA. To combat Trumpism, they are now turning the MAGA around: to make America Great Again we must reopen doors to immigrants, people hungry to progress.
We must talk about immigration, absolutely! But we must honestly ask ourselves all the questions. Because contrary to what is often said, anti-immigration arguments end up functioning as litanies, while the supposed "do-gooder clichés" actually have factual and academic basis.