He threatens to expel young people and tighten access to Spanish nationality: this is Feijóo's immigration plan.

BarcelonaWith Vox hot on their heels, also in Catalonia, PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo wanted to outline in Barcelona the migration plan he presented a few weeks ago in Murcia, whose flagship measure was the creation of a "points-based visa" for migrants. Feijóo added this Tuesday that this visa will be "temporary" and linked to an employment contract, meaning that if the migrant runs out of work, "they leave." Of the ten measures the PP leader proposed this Tuesday, a large part are linked to the employment that immigrants can have in the country. However, he also adds some measures such as "strengthening" the requirements for accessing Spanish nationality, and maintains others such as the expulsion of migrants who commit crimes. And in this regard, he adds the expulsion of migrant minors whose age tests, after being tested, do not match the previous age and indicate that they are over 18.

Regarding this latest measure, Feijóo once again criticized the distribution of minors promoted by the Spanish government and added age verification tests as one of the criteria for deciding whether or not to expel an unaccompanied young migrant. In the details of the immigration plan, the Popular Party proposes reforming the immigration law to "be able to expel any foreigner who has declared themselves to be a minor when the tests carried out determine their age of majority by a final resolution." "The verification of the minor's age must be resolved within a maximum of 72 hours. If they claim to be a minor, but after the tests it is shown to be fraudulent, they will be liable for a crime that we will include in the Penal Code," Feijóo added. The plan also includes increased police force at the borders.

In line with recent months, the Popular Party leader has once again given harsh anti-immigration rhetoric. Although he has presented it as "necessary" for Spain's demographic growth, the PP leader believes that "order must be brought to the current chaos." To "strengthen" access to citizenship, the PP proposes requiring a B2 level in Spanish and also implementing a "reinforced test of institutional, legal, cultural, and historical knowledge." "Spanish citizenship is not given away, it is deserved," Feijóo argued. A phrase strongly reminiscent of that uttered by the far-right Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who had stated that "Italian citizenship is not given away."

Residence linked to occupation

"It is inhumane to design an immigration policy at the expense of immigrants' rights, but it is also inhumane to do so at the expense of the resources of the citizens who work to make our system work," Feijóo stated, supporting the thesis that non-working immigrants want to live on welfare. Precisely, another point of the Popular Party's immigration plan advocates linking social benefits to "the active search for work." "It makes no sense for half a million immigrants to live without paying contributions and with no intention of working," Feijóo added.

The Popular Party, in fact, proposes that long-term residency also be dependent on an employment contract. Feijóo argued that work should be "the gateway" for migrants and the "guarantee" for "integration" into society. These are two measures that are added to the points-based visa system already announced, and which will have two access routes: a contract at origin in sectors "hard to fill," and a "temporary" one to seek work in "stressed sectors."

Furthermore, the PP also proposes that the government manage immigration through a single authority that consolidates all immigration powers. They reject, for their part, mass regularizations, as they had already explained. The PP president has surrounded himself with the party's top brass at the state level, with Miguel Tellado as the highest representative of the PP leadership, but also with the main cadres in Catalonia, with the leader of the Catalan PP, Alejandro Fernández, at the helm.

"Without papers for all, and not all expelled," Fernández began, admitting "concern" about the "catastrophic migration management and policy" that he attributed to the Spanish government. However, he stated: "Spain is not a racist country." It's no coincidence that Feijóo chose Catalonia to present his immigration plan. The latest polls They predict that Vox could do the overtaking to the popular ones in Parliament.

For her part, the deputy secretary for sectoral coordination, Alma Ezcurra, has attacked the left and the far right for offering solutions that she considers erroneous for addressing the migration debate. "They have turned identity into ideology," she criticized, referring to Vox, which accused Santiago Abascal's party of offering "simple solutions to complex problems." And she added, in a barb at the Spanish government: "Solidarity cannot condemn democracies to impotence. Anyone who comes to work will be welcomed and have our support. Anyone who comes to commit crimes will be at the border or in prison."

Criticism of the Spanish government

Before detailing his immigration plan, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez accused Feijóo of "whitewashing and approving of the far-right's debates." In this regard, he contrasted the PP's model with presenting immigration as an "opportunity" in the face of a "demographic winter." "How are we going to finance the welfare state, pensions, and public healthcare? Those who stigmatize migration offer a horizon of poverty to our society," he stated in an interview on Cadena SER.

Feijóo accused the left, on the other hand, of leading society to "cultural fragmentation" by defending "cultural diversity." And on this point, he lamented the fact that there are "unrecognizable" neighborhoods. These words were echoed by the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, who accused the PP leader of "using migration in a populist way." "Neighborhoods are already changing due to the influx of funds to buy entire blogs, which prevents residents from being able to live with their families and friends," Rodríguez said.