Spain’s Partido Popular wants left to issue public apology for branding it racist

Spain's Partido Popular (PP) demanded an immediate apology from left-wing and far-left parties, but especially from the government, for calling them xenophobic and racist for suggesting that Spain should follow the "example" of other EU partners, including Germany and France, in deporting irregular immigrants.

On Thursday, official sources in the PP, the main opposition force in parliament, demanded a formal and public apology from the coalition government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the left-wing Sumar platform.

The PP was accused of being racist and xenophobic shortly after its parliamentary spokesman, Miguel Tellado, on Wednesday attacked Sánchez's 'irresponsible' migration policy at a particularly difficult time for the Canary Islands and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa.

The Spanish prime minister is expected to end this Friday an official visit to Mauritania, Gambia, and Senegal, some of the main countries sending migrants to the EU via Spain, mainly along the dangerous Atlantic route towards the Canary Islands.

With the prime ministers of these African countries, Sánchez has signed agreements on circular migration, which the PP rejects on the grounds that they create a dangerous 'pull effect' for irregular immigration. 

In this regard, Tellado pointed out that Sánchez - who has opened the door to the possible regularisation of migrants currently living illegally in Spain - is going in a “contrary direction” to that taken by other EU countries.

“While Germany and France are talking about mass deportations, Sánchez is talking about mass regularisations”, Tellado commented, Euractiv's partner EFE reported.

Sánchez toughens his tone

At a joint press conference on with Mauritanian President Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani on Tuesday, the Spanish prime minister called for “promoting formulas that allow the migration phenomenon to be managed in a humane, safe and orderly manner”.

But on Wednesday in Senegal, the Spanish head of government toughened up his speech by talking about the need for countries of origin to accept the repatriation of those who arrive in Spain irregularly, after recalling that criminal organisations trafficking in human beings operate alongside terrorist networks and drug trafficking.

Although the Spanish prime minister and leader of the PSOE highlighted the positive effects of regular migration on the economy, he warned that it was "essential" that those who arrive in Spain irregularly return to their countries of origin.

“Mainly because this return sends a clear, clear and forceful disincentive message to the mafias and those who place themselves in their hands, but essentially because European and Spanish legislation obliges them to do so”, he stated.

The Spanish prime minister's forceful tone served as a pretext for the PP on Thursday to demand an apology from those who accused the party of xenophobia or said that the far-right VOX party, the third force in parliament, or the new 'ultra' formation SALF of controversial agitator Alvise Pérez were 'dictating' the PP's immigration policy.

“Beyond noting that the government does not have a plan to stop the arrival of immigrants on our shores at source, we expect an apology from those who questioned our ‘moral high ground’, from those who called us xenophobic and from those who said that the ultra-right was setting the pace for us”, the PP sources said.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)