Feijóo proposes a "points-based visa" to "bring order" to immigration.

MadridImmigration has become one of the central elements of the PP's discourse. It is a process that has been brewing in recent months, with a progressive hardening of tone and approach. One of the objectives of Alberto Núñez Feijóo's team is stop Vox in the polls and distance itself from the Spanish government on this matter with proposals that are in line with the hard line advocated by the far right. An example of this is the PP leader's defense this Sunday of implementing a "new points-based visa" like those in "other countries such as Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom" that would serve to "establish order" in the entry of immigrants into Spain. Feijóo presented this at an event with the PP regional presidents in Murcia, after they all signed a declaration in which they swear to toughen their approach to immigration.

The choice of location is no coincidence, one of the regions where Vox is strong, where the protests took place The racist incidents in Torre Pacheco in the summer and where the far right has managed to sneak in some of its immigration proposals in exchange for the approval of the budgets within the PP, which governs alone and without an absolute majority. Feijóo presented his party as a compromise between Vox and the PSOE. "This won't be solved with protests," he warned, referring to the riots in the Murcia municipality that enthralled the far right. "Nor will they find us in politics, just whoever wants to enter," he countered. According to Feijóo, "the solution is neither to regularize them all nor to throw them all into the sea," but rather "to establish order and apply the law once and for all." One of the ways to achieve this, he explained, is the "points-based visa," which he referred to this Sunday.

Feijóo explained that the formula would entail prioritizing the entry of "those who want to work in sectors where there is a shortage of labor," "those who know our culture best," and "those who have a greater capacity for integration." "The commitment of the countries of origin to our immigration policy will also be taken into account," he asserted. That is, states that "help restore order" in their countries of origin "will be rewarded," while those that do not commit to them "will not be granted visas." This is just one of the pillars of the immigration plan designed by the People's Party (PP), the details of which he intends to gradually unravel. In his speech in Murcia, Feijóo reiterated another element that has underpinned his immigration discourse in recent months: the threat of expulsion of foreigners who commit crimes. "Zero tolerance for crime," he defended, as did the political proposal approved at the congress in early July.

The PP leader has asserted that, if he takes office, when an immigrant commits a crime considered serious, such as a sexual offense, they will "automatically" lose their right to residency. "Repeat offenders, even if they are minor offenses, will not be able to reward themselves with remaining in Spain," he said. Feijóo's other proposal has been to link immigrants' access to economic benefits such as the minimum living income (IMV) to an "active job search." According to the PP leader, "it is not reasonable" that "public aid" can become "the only means of subsistence for people who arrive in Spain" and that this is an "abuse."

He admits to internal differences.

The meeting of the PP regional presidents, who have been meeting in Murcia all weekend, has taken place after the Internal differences regarding Israel's attacks on GazaWhile men from the moderate wing have acknowledged the "genocide," Isabel Díaz Ayuso's Madrid PP, from the more hardline wing, clearly sides with Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Also on immigration, the sector represented by the Andalusian Juanma Moreno has been characterized by deploying a less radical discourse than that embraced by Feijóo. and the president of Madrid"There are nuances, there are accents, but there is a common direction," said the Popular Party president in his speech this Sunday regarding the different sensitivities within the party.

With the image of the signing of the declaration, which obliges the regional presidents to endorse the line set by Génova and in which Ayuso has increasingly more influenceFeijóo wanted to project a closing of ranks. However, Moreno was one of the notable absentees from this Sunday's family photo. The Andalusian president left the conclave on Saturday night to attend a comic book fair in Malaga the following day, to which actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was invited. He briefly coincided with Ayuso in that, also due to scheduling reasons, he arrived in Murcia on Saturday instead of Friday, like the other PP presidents.

Criticism from the left

The PP meeting has drawn criticism from the left, which accuses the Popular Party of imitating the far right. "They talk and dress like Vox," said María Jesús Montero, the deputy leader of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) and First Vice President of the Spanish government, at an event in Malaga on Saturday, warning Feijóo that "he is feeding the beast" and will end up devouring it. Podemos has called the Popular Party meeting "a racist coven."