“Coming and kicking down the door is rewarded in Spain”, says Jorge Buxadé, Secretary General of Vox, to refer to the regularization of immigrants. But the majority of people who will benefit from this measure have not arrived by kicking down any doors: they have been inside for years, often opening and closing our doors every day —and assuming care that, as a society, we are not resolving.Around half a million people: a staggering figure. This is why Feijóo talks about "bulk" regularization and the opposition stirs up the ghost of the pull effect. But the data do not support this fear: neither the 2005 regularization —which granted papers to more than 576,000 people— nor any other regularization in Spain generated any measurable effect, according to available studies. Migration flows depend on the economic cycle and the situation in the countries of origin, not on the host country's reception policies. And the requirement for this measure is clear: you must prove that you were in Spain before January 1, 2026. It is not those who arrive who are regularized, but those who are already here — people who have been working and living in our neighborhoods for years, often without any formal right to recognize it.But, beyond the controversy, is it a good measure? Most of these people already work, but in the underground economy, without paying contributions or having labor rights. Regularization does not create new labor – it is already there – but rather removes it from precariousness and incorporates it into Social Security. Several studies find that the fiscal impact of immigration is "clearly positive": they contribute more than they receive. Giving papers to people who are already here is also the most effective way to know who they are and where they are. And, finally, a society that benefits from someone's work without recognizing any rights is an exploitative society. At a time when Europe is toughening its migration policies, Sánchez is going against the current.

Aware of his parliamentary weakness, Pedro Sánchez and the PSOE have decided to make an all-or-nothing bet to turn the Spanish president into a progressive benchmark, both internally and internationally. For now, it's working for them, also in the State: fewer and fewer people doubt that he can complete the legislature, and the shells with which the PP thought to break his waterline (starting with the alleged judicial scandals relating to his wife, his brother, and even his late father-in-law) have rather remained wet gunpowder.Within the failed ammunition, there are also reproaches against the new regularization of immigrants, which has come into effect with the last-minute incorporation, by the Spanish government, of the criminal record certificate requirement. Requesting a criminal record certificate from people who in many cases will find it difficult to obtain it (because in their countries of origin, often impoverished and damaged by war, corruption and/or poverty, they will not be issued it) is equivalent to short-circuiting the regularization process with an administrative hurdle that, for many, may be insurmountable. This should have forced a review of the opposition's arguments against this measure, but it has not been the case: the right-wing, extreme and not-so-extreme, have once again spun the rosary of immigration as a source of crime and recidivism. Feijóo, even, resorted to the old fallacy of immigrant rapists.In our homeland, in the Catalan Countries, the reaction of again presenting immigration as a tool for Hispanization and the substitution or elimination of Catalan (or Mallorcan, or Valencian) identity, in addition to a solid imbecility, is an expression of weakness that clearly goes against the ability of Catalanism and separatism to gain supporters among newcomers. You are an immigrant arriving in the country, or who is born and grows up there, and within the political landscape you see some who accuse you of being a colon sent by someone with the purpose of liquidating the country, language, and culture: you already know who you will never want to go anywhere with.While this was happening, the Spanish president undertook a Chinese tour in which he met directly with Xi Jinping, and on his return he landed in Barcelona to host an international progressive summit (or an anti-Trump summit, as it has also been called) which obviously goes against Catalan independence and at the same time further strengthens Sánchez's role as a left-wing benchmark. It remains to be seen what content all this has (content means consequences in the form of policies) and if it has any electoral effect (traditionally, the impact of the international agenda on election results is low), but what cannot be said of Sánchez is that he is standing idly by. On the other hand, mans plegades is an expression that can be used to describe political options based on catastrophism, resentment, and discontent. For whatever reason, those who present themselves as losers do not usually generate enthusiasm.

In Spain, the process of obtaining residency and work permits is so cumbersome and complicated that carrying out extraordinary regularization processes has already become a custom. The goal is to end administrative bottlenecks and pockets of irregular immigration that, in turn, fuel the black economy and the perpetuation of situations of social vulnerability. These regularizations have been carried out by socialist and popular governments. There were them in 1986, 1991, and 1996 under Felipe González, in 2000 and 2001 under José María Aznar, and in 2005 and 2006 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The last one, therefore, was twenty years ago, before the migratory boom after the global recession of 2008-2012.

Josep Sala i Cullell is a geography teacher at a high school in Norway. His first essay, Plug generation, It sparked some controversy when addressing generational power struggles. Now it returns with We are not 6 million (Portico), A book in which he calls for open discussion about immigration and criticizes the fact that we have been sold, as inevitable, a model designed to favor employers and harm workers.

Having self-love in times of hate is the answer and the path. The Super Bowl performance presented love as a trench, a word, and a form of resistance against the alarming election results. At the world's biggest concert, with 135 million viewers, reading "only love is more powerful than hate" became a balm for the pain of seeing dehumanizing policies gain votes.

The Spanish government's decision to undertake a new mass regularization process for undocumented immigrants is a necessary measure, but it also demonstrates that the immigration system is failing. Currently, obtaining a work permit in Spain is a bureaucratic odyssey, a labyrinth where workers and companies become trapped, ultimately leading to the formation of unmanageable pockets of people living among us but in a legal limbo that prevents them from accessing legal employment or decent housing, and forces them to constantly worry about legal status. By cutting off all avenues for social integration, the only result is the creation of pockets of poverty and marginalization that fuel an underground economy, ultimately hindering the country's development.

It's not uncommon these days to see dystopian films and series depicting the United States in the throes of civil war or where chaos reigns and the law of the strongest prevails. Unfortunately, the raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol (CBP) to indiscriminately capture immigrants are bringing these apocalyptic scenarios, where police violence is the norm, ever closer. The cold-blooded murder of Alex Pretti, a nurse protesting the raids in Minneapolis, has sparked a wave of outrage across the country. This incident follows the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good while she was arguing with an officer without leaving her vehicle. It also comes on the heels of the scandal surrounding the arrest of five-year-old Liam Ramos, who was taken home from school and used as bait to lure his father home.

Which We are living these days in Badalona.It is a reflection and consequence of the xenophobic rhetoric of the far right, which, in order to respond to people's discontent, seeks easy scapegoats in the weakest link of society: the most recent arrivals. The city's mayor, Xavier García Albiol, of the PP, He has behaved like an ultra-conservative, incendiary leader, blatantly linking immigration with insecurity and promoting and turning into a propaganda spectacle the eviction of a former educational institute occupied by people with nowhere to sleep.

During this year of 2025, which is about to end, few images in Catalonia have been more shocking than those seen Sunday night in Badalona, ​​when a small group of residents forcibly prevented fifteen immigrants from the group evicted from the B9 high school from being rehoused in the parish of Our Lady of Montserrat. This is the extent of hatred and inhumanity displayed by some residents who have embraced the rhetoric fueled by the city's mayor, Xavier García Albiol, against a group of 200 people who now have to seek shelter under a bridge in freezing temperatures.

Under the C-31 bridge, between Badalona and Sant Adrià de Besòs, all the realities of the world have converged, along with some of the miseries of this country. We find great universal classics: the second-to-last to arrive against the last, that is, the poor against the very poor, workers with precarious economies against those who aspire to one day have precarious jobs with papers, in a situation that amounts to an unexpected (and bitter) twist on what was once called class struggle. All of this is fueled by the deliberate conflation of poverty and crime, and the gospel of hate according to TikTok, disguised as concern for security.

Tourism phobia? To the expats? To immigrants? There are polite and respectful tourists (you do your own sightseeing, right?), expats with a desire to integrate (surely they have a relative living abroad) and immigrants without whom we wouldn't leave (who cares for dependent relatives?). Fear and/or phobia abroad, in general, is a dead end. It harbors hatred of difference. Structural problems—housing, insecurity, poverty, strain on social services, etc.—are one thing, and people are quite another. If instead of looking at collectives, we focus on specific individuals—neighbors, friends, coworkers, shopkeepers, acquaintances, or those we greet—our perception becomes humanized. The other person becomes a familiar face.

1. Portraits. The immigrant hunt organized by the far right in Torre Pacheco is yet another warning of the threats to democracy. And it's no small feat. The targeting—elevated to persecution—of people who come from abroad to survive, to find work unavailable in their places of origin, has become an alibi upon which the far right builds and attempts to legitimize its xenophobic discourse and aims: Spanishness as a self-evident characteristic of people, as a condition for recognition of people, a mechanism for patriotic unification. As always, using the weakest as scapegoats—and using lies as an argument for legitimization. This case, like so many others, stems from one fake: from the image of the attack by some young ultras, those who are now outraged, on an elderly person from Alicante. The narrative is in reverse, with an obsession with constructing a portrait of the enemies and turning the fight against them—filled with hatred, but also expressive of one's own weakness—into a political priority.

The Vox spokesperson for the flourishing demographic emergency and social policies portfolio, Rocío de Meer, has said that seven or eight million immigrants and their children living in Spain should be deported. Seven or eight, which doesn't come from a palm or a million of the millions. You pay 100 euros for a ticket (cabin luggage, that is), cheap talk, you're spending 800,000,000 euros. She's considering the idea of deporting them by train, Third Reich-style. Even in this case, I'd say the situation is complicated.

France wants to ban marriages between French people and foreigners in an irregular situation, even if they are not marriages of convenience. The Senate – dominated by the right – approved on Thursday a bill to prevent any foreigner who does not have a residence permit from marrying a person of French nationality. With the exception of the left, parties from all over the parliamentary spectrum, including those in government, voted in favour.

France wants to ban marriages between French people and foreigners in an irregular situation, even if they are not marriages of convenience. The Senate - dominated by the right - approved a bill on Thursday to prevent any foreigner who does not have a residence permit from marrying a person of French nationality. With the exception of the left, parties across the parliamentary spectrum, including those in government, voted in favour.

The Catalan population born abroad has surpassed the two million mark for the first time. Specifically, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) published in the latest Continuous Population Survey dated January 1, the number of inhabitants of Catalonia who were born outside the State stands at 2,028,315. The figure represents 24.98% of the total population and represents an increase of almost 30,000 people in the last quarter of 2024. In total, last year the number of Catalans born abroad increased by 121,633 people.

The Council of Ministers will approve this Tuesday the exceptional and temporary regularization of thousands of immigrants affected by the DANA in the Valencian Community on October 29, as has been announced The Country and has confirmed the ARA. According to sources from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, some 26,000 migrants will be able to benefit from an "exceptional" residence permit. The figure would grow to 98,000 beneficiaries if other changes in immigration matters are taken into account, which will also be approved tomorrow Tuesday.