Immigration, housing and the welfare state
At the end of Francesc Candel's centenary year, the cruel eviction ordered by the mayor of Badalona against 400 migrants has brought to light the harsh reality faced by many people who have come to work and seek a dignified life. Like many others who, throughout history, have shaped Catalonia, Candel is a figure like the author of...The other Catalans gave voice.
Immigration is once again at the center of the debate. And it's no coincidence that it's happening precisely now, as the far right surges in the polls. Just as the EU wants to tighten its immigration policies. And just as Donald Trump wants us to swallow the nonsense of his National Security Strategy: "In every country in the world, mass migration has strained national resources, increased violence and crime, weakened social cohesion, distorted labor markets, and compromised national security."
This is not what the reality of our country says, nor does it reflect all recent studies. Demographic transition, immigration and aging in Catalonia 2024-2050Josep Oliver, an economist at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), explains that we need and will need 100,000 migrants each year in the next decade. A study by Fomento (the Spanish Ministry of Public Works) says something similar. Spain with 50 million inhabitants. Given this, closing your eyes is just as dangerous as conducting a biased analysis.
The economist Miquel Puig does so when, in the pages of ARA, maintains that "low-wage immigration—which attracts our tourism, agriculture, and personal care services—undermines the welfare state, since the taxes and social contributions these people bear are less than the cost of the services they will receive over their lifetimes." And it does so when, citing the Fomento studyHe blames immigration for having "generated a deficit of 0.5 million homes that has had to be covered by converting second homes." More rigor and less alarmism are needed when the debate on immigration takes place in social, academic, and media spaces.
New arrivals contribute more to the system than they take away. Since 2010, 95% of workers joining Catalonia's workforce (nearly half a million) were born outside of Spain, yet they have contributed to 80% of Spain's economic growth since before the pandemic, according to the European Central Bank. And although the rate of undocumented work is 25% among non-EU citizens, it is significant that foreign workers have accounted for one in three new social security registrations since 2013, according to a study by the Cipriano García Foundation. The other Catalans of the 21st century.
In short: migrants pay into the system. And, although they are often exploited without living wages, they contribute to a welfare state to which they are just as entitled as everyone else. In a country with a low birth rate, it is necessary to accompany the population increase from abroad with a redistributive increase in public investment. And this is possible because the economy and corporate profits are growing. All that is needed is the political will to make those who earn more pay more and to reverse cuts in education, health, care, and other public services.
The challenge is enormous in housing, the country's primary problem and the most neglected right of the welfare state. In Catalonia, 13,000 apartments are built annually, a third of the number built before the housing bubble. In the last ten years, despite the Catalan population increasing by 600,000 people, only 14,000 new subsidized housing units have been built. And this is despite having a meager stock of 100,000 units, which is shrinking because many older subsidized units are being released onto the open market. These figures come from a study by the Cipriano García Foundation. Access to housing in Catalonia: A class issue, which debunks common misconceptions.
Worse than a cliché is the Ministry of Public Works' claim that, faced with the construction slowdown and increased demand, the market's response has been "a shift from second homes to primary residences" to "reduce real estate pressure." Seriously? minorAre migrants occupying second homes? It's necessary to intervene in the market and build more apartments, both public and for rent. But let's be clear: while Catalonia has four million homes, one for every two inhabitants, the truth is that more than 10% are empty, one in four are second homes, and there are more than 100,000 tourist apartments.
The problem isn't migrants, but housing policies. If Candel had lived a hundred years, he would write again about other Catalans living in sublet rooms or shantytowns. And in cities that don't want to lose their identity, like Badalona, he would raise his voice demanding respect for human, social, and civil rights.