Government Admits Illegal Immigrants Saturating Economy (Spain)

Gov admits illegal migrants saturating economy
11 September 2006
Expatica News

MADRID The ruling socialist party believes the country cannot take any more illegal immigration, it was reported on Monday.

Jos Blanco, secretary of the socialist party, told the Spanish daily El Pais, that the Spanish labour market cannot absorb any more “illegals”.

He said the immense majority of these people would have to be expelled.

Blanco said there would not be another amnesty for immigrants, like the one which the government carried out last year.

Almost 700,000 illegal immigrants who had work were granted legal status in order to bring them in from Spain's black economy and get them to pay taxes to the state.

Blanco said everyone in Spain knew that foreign workers were “necessary” and that they had influenced the country's economic growth in recent years.

But he admitted people were increasingly becoming concerned about the daily images on Spanish television of illegal immigrants arriving in the Canary Islands and elsewhere.