MADRID (AP) — As most European leaders tighten immigration policies amid the rise of far-right populism and the Trump administration's warnings that they could face “civilizational annihilation” if they don't tighten their borders, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stands aside.
The Iberian nation has welcomed millions of people from Latin America and Africa in recent years, and the leftist Sanchez regularly extols the financial and social benefits that immigrants coming to Spain legally bring to the eurozone's fourth-largest economy.
Spain's choice, as Sánchez often says, is between “being an open and prosperous country or a closed and poor country.”
His words stand in stark contrast to those of other Western leaders, and so far his bet appears to be paying off. Spain's economy grew faster than any other EU country for the second year in a row, partly as newcomers fuel an aging workforce.
“Today, Spain's progress and strong economic situation owe much to the contribution of migrants who came to Spain to develop their life projects,” Sanchez said in July after anti-migrant violence rocked the small southern Spanish town.
The changing mood of Europe
Sánchez's approach to immigration, including his remarks about the contributions of immigrants to Spanish society, is consistent with the approaches of the country's past progressive governments, said Anna Terrón Cusi, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute who has previously worked on immigration policy for several Spanish governments, including Sánchez's.
“What has changed a lot domestically is that Vox now has very anti-immigration rhetoric, especially against Muslim immigrants,” she said, referring to the far-right Spanish party, which ranks third in polls behind the ruling Socialists and the center-right People's Party. “But Sanchez, unlike other European leaders, responds by directly and strongly opposing this narrative.”
Centrist leaders across Europe are facing growing pressure from anti-immigrant far-right parties, despite a significant drop in the number of illegal border crossings into the EU over the past two years.
In France, where the once ostracized far-right National Rally party has gained support, centrist President Emmanuel Macron is now talking about what he calls the “migration problem.”
“If we don't want the National Rally to come to power, we have to solve the problem that feeds it,” Macron said last year after France accepted new restrictions he called a “shield” needed to “fight illegal immigration” while helping to “better integrate” migrant workers.
When he ran for chancellor of Germany this year, Friedrich Merz promised to tighten the country's immigration policies. Within days of his election, Germany stepped up border security efforts. And in recent weeks it has released new figures showing a rise in deportations of rejected asylum seekers and a decline in the number of new asylum seekers.
Political risks in Spain
Sánchez's progressive government has also seen pro-immigration proposals stalled.
Last year it amended Spain's immigration law to make it easier for hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the country illegally to obtain residence and work permits. At the time, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said Spain needed to add up to 300,000 foreign tax-paying workers a year to maintain its government benefits, including pensions, health care and unemployment. Critics, however, said the changes to the law have many flaws and even harm some migrants.
A more ambitious amnesty proposal, later also approved by Sánchez's progressive government, stalled in parliament due to its complex politics.
“Some voices have pointed out that (the amnesty) could have very large social consequences,” said Cecilia Estrada Villaseñor, an immigration researcher at the Pontifical University of Comillas in Madrid. She added: “The European context comes into play. We belong to the European Union and now the balance is elsewhere.”
Containing migrants arriving by boat from Africa
Sánchez's government, along with the EU, has also paid African governments to help stop migrants from reaching Spain's shores, including many would-be asylum seekers.
Most immigrants to Spain enter the country legally by plane. But the relatively few who arrive on Spanish shores on smuggler boats dominate the headlines, and are regularly held up by far-right politicians and the media as a sign of what is wrong with the government's position.
Last year, amid a surge in the number of people making the dangerous sea crossing from Africa's west coast to the Canary Islands, Sanchez traveled to Mauritania with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who pledged 210 million euros (about $247 million) of EU money to help the northwest African country curb migration.
The efforts seem to be paying off. The number of migrants arriving in the Canary Islands this year has fallen by 60%, which even government critics say is due to increased border controls by African governments.
But human rights activists blame Sánchez's policies for violent migrant deaths in Spain and abroad, such as the 2022 hotspot in the Spanish enclave of Melilla in North Africa. In that case, sub-Saharan migrants and asylum seekers scaled the border fence, sparking clashes with authorities that left 23 migrants dead.
In an interview with The Associated Press a week later, Sanchez described the response of Moroccan and Spanish police, calling the attempt “an attack on Spain's borders.”
In response to questions from the AP, a spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office said: “Our immigration policies are effective and responsible.”
Latin American migrants
Spain is home to millions of Latin American migrants who quickly acquire Spanish citizenship and generally integrate easily thanks to a common language.
More than 4 million people from Latin America were living legally in Spain in 2024, according to government data. Currently, the leading countries of origin of Spanish immigrants are Morocco, Colombia and Venezuela.
Spain's central bank estimates the country will need about 24 million working-age immigrants over the next 30 years to maintain a balance between workers and retirees with children.
But economists say Spain's millions of immigrants have added fuel to another political fire as the country's housing market becomes increasingly unaffordable. José Bosca, an economist at the University of Valencia, said that, in addition to pressure from overtourism and short-term rentals in cities, Spain has not built enough housing to accommodate its new residents.
“If you bring that many people together and don’t build more housing, you could have problems,” Bosca said.
In response, Sánchez's government has promised to fund more construction, especially public housing, and has also proposed measures to curb wealthy foreigners buying second homes in the country.
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Associated Press reporters Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Renata Brito in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this story.
