The Spanish prime minister has defended his plan to regularise 500,000 undocumented migrants.
Pedro Sanchez cited ‘moral’ and ‘economic’ motivations behind the move during an interview with CNN at the World Governments Summit.
Richard Quest told Sanchez that the policy was ‘completely the opposite direction that everyone else is going in’, adding: ‘Why did you do it?’
Sanchez replied: ‘Well, this debate has a moral focus. Spain has been, for many years, a country of migrants.
‘Our parents and grandparents left for other places precisely because we suffered a dictatorship or a lack of economic opportunities.
‘That said, there is also a pragmatic approach. These people are contributing to Spain’s economic success.
‘By the way, they account for approximately 10% of our social security revenues, while representing only 1% of total public spending.’
Elon Musk amplifies false theories
The policy has sparked a series of hoaxes and outlandish theories from far-right forces.
Among them is the claim that the left-wing government hopes the move will alter the census, giving them more votes at the next general election.
This has no basis in fact because foreign residents cannot vote in general elections, unless they become full citizens, which takes up to 10 years.
Despite this, X founder Elon Musk last week reshared a post from a controversial commentator touting the senseless theory.
The post read: ‘Spain just legalised 500,000 illegal aliens to ”defeat the far-right”
‘It’s not even a secret anymore. By legalising 500,000 illegals under the guise of defeating the far-right, Pedro Sanchez is essentially dropping the mask. This is electoral engineering.
‘The logic is simple: legalise half a million people, fast-track them to citizenship (which takes as little as two years for many), and you’ve effectively imported a massive, loyal voting bloc that’s indebted to the left.’
Musk shared the post writing ‘wow’, despite it being wildly inaccurate.
PM Sanchez later responded: ‘Mars can wait. Humanity can’t’, in an apparent dig at Musk’s obsession of landing on Mars.
Others blasted the original post for sharing ‘fake information.’
One fuming Spaniard said: ‘You’re a tremendous liar and ignorant. To become a Spanish citizen, you have to have lived at least 10 years since your first registration, pass an exam (which is anything but easy, by the way), know the Constitution, and speak Spanish.
‘Most of those who have been legalised are Hispanic Americans, and they certainly don’t vote for the left.’
