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Spain: Immigration in brief

01 May 1999

Spain: Increase in the refusal of asylum requests: Last year Spain rejected 96% of the asylum requests which were presented; only 4% of applicants were considered, that is, 253 persons. It is the second year in which the percentage of asylum claims was no more than 4% of the total requests. The reform of the Ley de Asilo (Asylum Law) carried out in 1994 has proved to be extremely restrictive, resulting in a drop in applications: in 1996 they decreased by 60%, compared to 1994. Furthermore, 60% of requests did not get past preliminary stages. The detention of undocumented immigrants has trebled under the Partido Popular (PP) government. According to figures presented in the Senate last April by the Ministry of the Interior, a total of 40,710 undocumented immigrants were arrested in 1998, almost three times more than in 1995, when 15,416 were arrested. However, expulsions only increased by 13%.

Spain: Quotas for 1999: The government has adopted a policy of immigration quotas since 1992. It sets the number of immigrants who can enter Spain each year, the professions in which they can work, the numbers that can enter a given profession from each country, how many from each gender group, and how they will be distributed in different provinces and autonomous regions. On 23 April the authorities offered 30,000 permits; they received 94,819 applications, almost twice as many as in 1998. The policy of quotas is based on two principles: the principle of national preference which gives preference to Spanish labour; and the principle of subsidiarity, which means immigrants will only have access to jobs for which no Spanish workers are available. The quota policy allows the regularisation of some of the immigrants who are already in the country in an "irregular" position. The policy is also used to control and limit the concession of work and residence permits which strengthens the idea of immigrants being a subsidiary workforce. By gathering information on "irregular" immigrants it can make them a target for expulsion or compulsory departure.