Globalization allows and encourages the transit in all directions of goods and capital. But it has not lifted the borders so that people can move and settle freely. The recent case of a cruise ship detained in Barcelona because 69 Bolivian passengers did not have valid visas forced the 1,500 cruise passengers to spend two days on the ship anchored in the port and the Bolivians were deported by plane to their place of origin.
What a liberating feeling I experienced, when the Schengen treaty was implemented in 1986, when I moved to Munich without anyone asking me for any documentation until I arrived at the Bavarian hotel where I stayed. The free movement of citizens through the so-called Schengen territory and the establishment of the euro have been two of the main elements of European cohesion. Also the Erasmus scholarships, which have brought down so many cultural and national prejudices.
Migration is inevitable and in the case of Europe it is necessary to correct the declining demographic curve, maintain the pace of economic growth and ensure the welfare state for future generations. If all the foreigners who arrived this century were to leave in one year, the country as a whole would collapse. I do not know what course the legislative initiative will take to grant Spanish citizenship to half a million migrants who live and work here without the relevant documentation. It seems to me that it is fair to grant them citizenship with all the rights and all the duties.
About 200 million people, 2.4% of the world’s population, live outside their native country. They are not a problem but provide many solutions. Exploitation of fear of foreigners causes speeches of hatred and xenophobia. The European Parliament has just approved a migration pact on the eve of the June elections in which the conditions for migrants entering the territory of the Union are tightened.
It is a pact of fear for the growth of extreme right-wing parties, which have made the migrant one of the main electoral cards. Managing migration is not easy, but fostering hostility towards survivors seems collectively suicidal to me. The antidote is more resources for integration and fewer speeches loaded with supremacist prejudices and contempt for the most vulnerable.
