'No permanent residency without integration': Spain's PP warns foreigners

The Spanish opposition has promised to only offer foreigners long-term or permanent residency if they can prove effort and contribution, if the centre-right party were to reach power in 2027.

The People's Party (PP) has been drip-feeding policy proposals in recent weeks, and outlined its broader immigration plan in Barcelona on Tuesday.

To present the document, party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has chosen Catalonia, the region "where the lack of [immigration] control" has been most keenly felt, according to the deputy secretary of the PP's Sectorial Coordination, Alma Ezcurra.

READ ALSO: Spain's opposition plans to make it impossible for overstayers to get residency

This follows a whole range of proposals to shake up the immigration system and continues the PP's tough talk on migration.

The measures could have a significant impact on the lives of foreigners in Spain. If the polls are to be believed and the PP win the next general election — scheduled for 2027 in Spain — briefings coming out of Calle Génova, the party's Madrid headquarters, suggest the PP will try and recalibrate the immigration system towards a more integrationist, contributory model.

READ ALSO: Will Spain's PP protect foreigners' rights if they get into power?

In the Spanish press this morning, reports suggest Feijóo will as part of his presentation propose tightening up access to permanent residence permits by linking them to employment and social integration rather than simply time spent in the country.

"Long-term residence permits will depend on effort, not on calendars. In general, it will be granted based on criteria of contribution, work and integration, not mere permanence in Spain," says a PP policy document seen by Spanish daily El País.

According to current residency rules, it is compulsory to have lived legally and continuously in Spain for at least five years in order to obtain long-term or permanent residency. Among other factors, it is currently also required to "lack a criminal record in Spain and in the countries where he or she has resided for the last five years".

READ ALSO: The differences between Spain's permanent and long-term residency cards

The PP wants to add "contribution, work and integration criteria" to the mandatory five years of legal residence, but is yet to outline what exactly this would mean in practical terms.

Another policy announced in Barcelona is to limit the use of the empadronamiento (town hall registration) in migration matters and to link "non-urgent" state aid and benefits to legal residence in Spain.

"The padrón will be used for statistical purposes," the text states. "Non-urgent economic aid and the application of priority or bonus criteria should require proof of legal residence, not mere census registration, without prejudice to access to essential services guaranteed by law," it adds.

This follows a raft of recent immigration proposals from the centre-right party. Losing votes to the far-right Vox party (the PP's likely coalition partner if it wins the next election), Feijóo's party has picked up the rhetoric on immigration as public discourse in Spain has become further polarised.

"Every immigrant is not a victim, as the PSOE maintains, nor a criminal by default, as Vox claims,” Feijóo said recently.

“Neither of these extremes is true, and consequently, the solution is neither to legalise them all nor to throw them all into the sea. It is to establish order and apply the law once and for all".

READ ALSO: PP proposes foreigners sign 'letter of commitment' to live in Spain

Socialist (PSOE) Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is one of the few European leaders to make the case for immigration, pledging to regularise the migrations status of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and arguing the Spanish economy needs them, whereas Vox's rhetoric has become increasingly extremist.

Many political pundits in Spain see the PP pivot towards immigration as a means to both stem the flow of votes to its right while also taking a harder line than what the party perceives as an overly-permissive system under the Socialists.

This follows news proposals to toughen up the arraigo residency process if it returns to government, pledging that overstayers will no longer get residency without evidence of contribution or integration.

Feijóo has also vowed to implement a points-based visa system for migrants if he gets in power, one which would favour foreigners who adapt "better" to Spanish culture.

The party leader has also called for the creation of a "letter of commitment" to be signed by immigrants who want to live and work in Spain, which includes learning the language, knowing the Spanish Constitution and respecting local values.

READ ALSO: Spain's PP calls for points-based visa system for foreigners