The only representative of Ciudadanos in the Basque Parliament, José Manuel Gil, has wanted to catch the PNV on the wrong foot with respect to the immigration issue, in line with the demand for the transfer of the reception phase of Immigration. The Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, however, has made it clear that his party, and the Basque Government itself, demand the transfer of this competence, with regard to its second phase, to favor the integration of migrants, moving away from any discourse that could be used around such a sensitive issue.
Specifically, in the plenary session this Friday in the Basque Parliament, the only representative of Ciudadanos asked why Euskadi is requesting powers in immigration, while stating “that nationalism has always had a racist, xenophobic and supremacist undertone.” “.
This question came in line with the agreement that PNV and PSOE signed, within the investiture pact, so that in three months the powers of Railways, Validation of foreign titles and Immigration, in relation to the reception phase, would be transferred to the Basque Executive. Ciudadanos’ questioning also referred to the agreement between Junts and the PSOE on this matter in Catalonia.
The Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, has defended that Euskadi wants powers over migration “to welcome and integrate immigrants” and has clarified that the pact reached with the socialists concerns the second phase of treatment of migrants, once the Government Spanish has recognized their international protection.
As indicated, what the Executive of Vitoria proposes is to be responsible for the social integration itineraries of these people once their residence in Euskadi has been established.
The Lehendakari has defended that he is requesting the competition to expand and reinforce the Basque reception model, a model that does not start from scratch but has been built for more than 20 years. “In practice we offer services to the population of foreign origin to accompany them in the integration processes,” he noted.
Urkullu has insisted that immigration policy must be based on “the conception of integration as a process of mutual adaptation”, and guarantee normalized access of the migrant population to public services.
With immigration policy, he concluded, “our aspiration is to continue building a more diverse, fairer and more cohesive Basque society.”
