Reader insights offer a valuable contribution to understanding life abroad. The Local Spain’s community of international residents often find themselves at the heart of the country’s most heated debates, from digital privacy to the ethics of immigration.
The word on everyone’s lips in Spain recently has been the news that Spain’s left-wing government approved a plan to regularise around 500,000 undocumented migrants by decree, the country’s latest break with harsher policies elsewhere in Europe.
News of the mass regularisation reached tech billionaire Elon Musk, who echoed accusations from the right that Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is attempting “electoral engineering”.
When Sánchez announced his plans to ban social media access for children under 16, Musk continued to attack the Spanish leader, calling him a “fascist totalitarian”.
READ ALSO: Why is Musk so opposed to Spain banning social media for under-16s?
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Our readers, however, seem more concerned with the impact of technology on the next generation than with billionaire bickering. Lisa suggested a pragmatic approach: “First listen to Musk, evaluate what he says, and then ignore him. Research has shown, repeatedly and across many countries in the world, that social media is harmful to children and young teens.” She added that tech giants have little incentive to protect users: “But they won’t because there is no money in it; they don’t care about the children.”
US Expat agreed that the responsibility lies with the platforms, noting, “Social media is not a good influence on children under 16. Musk must concede the point. So why hasn’t he (or FB, Insta, etc.) done anything about it? They do nothing.” Meanwhile, John Hermes argued that the CEO should stay in his lane: “Elon needs to stick to invention, and not politics. He already made a mess of the US with his doge fiascos.”
Pitting citizen against citizen
Musk isn’t the only far-right voice making their opinions on the Spanish government’s decision known. In Spain’s far right calls for review of a million citizenships granted under Sánchez, we wrote about Spanish far-right party Vox’s call for a review of a million citizenships. The rhetoric, which accuses the Spanish PM’s policy as “fraud”, drew sharp criticism from our community.
Larry observed a familiar pattern in the language used by the party Vox: “VOX sounds like the Trumpian-MAGA diatribes in the US. How sad [that] their main reason for being is to pit their own citizens against each other.” Leonard was equally critical of the strategy, describing it as “Spinning hate for votes. What a destructive mindset Vox has. What a political waste of time.”
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The ‘Expat’ vs. ‘Migrant’ debate
In Inside Spain: When ‘expats’ criticise other migrants, we delved into why some of those who have moved to start a new life in Spain pit themselves as ‘better’ than others. We explained why we stopped using the term ‘expat’ at The Local some time ago, as it is often seen as applying only to wealthy Westerners while others are labelled as immigrants. Thomas Oldfield welcomed this shift in perspective: “Excellent article. I am a British immigrant. I work and pay taxes. I have experienced the good and bad side of Spain but generally I have been supported and welcomed. I don’t want this to be a special privilege for white men like me.”
Likewise, Angel Roja dismissed complaints about the “unfairness” of the recent regularisation of undocumented migrants, noting the economic reality: “If those undocumented immigrants had access to an annual income of 28,000€ per annum, they would have regularized their situations years ago. Now they will be able to contribute to the public purse.”
A case for contribution
For many, the necessity of immigration in an ageing Europe is a matter of simple fact. Colin Jackson argued that the continent needs to be honest about its workforce. “Western Europe is aging out, and needs people to do its cleaning, work in its restaurants, do its fruit picking etc. These are non-aspirational jobs that Europeans aren’t interested in doing as they don’t pay well.”
Despite the political noise, the consensus among the international community is one of support for a more tolerant stance on immigration. It seems that many of our readers care about their neighbours, despite the fact that some of those very neighbours may hold differing views.
Bob shared his horror at hearing a neighbour, and fellow American, suggest that newly regularised migrants would clog the healthcare system: “I was horrified at such a racist thing to say. Spain has a right to govern their immigration laws. These laws must help society to stop exploitation of the most vulnerable.”
Members of The Local Spain can comment on all articles. Your constructive views, advice for others and stories of life in Spain offer a vital contribution to our community of international readers.
