Spain’s centre-right PP has made a regional pact with far-right Vox that establishes a ‘national priority’ to put Spaniards first for benefits and state aid. The clause creates legal debate and perhaps even a view to future immigration policy on a national level.
At a time when immigration is dominating public debate in Spain, the country’s right-wing parties have remade regional pacts on the basis of a ‘national priority’ policy that puts Spaniards before foreigners.
The idea, which essentially prioritises Spaniards over foreigners for state aid, has caused controversy with left-wing parties and the Catholic church.
This comes after a deal in Extremadura in which Spain’s centre-right opposition Popular Party (PP) has entered into a regional pact with the far-right Vox months following regional elections. It comes just two years after policy divergence over immigration collapsed similar deals in five regions.
READ ALSO: Which foreigners pay the most into Spain’s social security system?
The idea is as simple as it is controversial: to give priority to Spanish citizens over foreigners, including European Union citizens, in areas such as social benefits, social housing and certain public services.
However, Vox’s definition of who qualifies as Spanish seems not to be a legal one — that is, those with Spanish nationality — but rather an ethnic one that relies on conceptions of bloodline.
This involves having two Spanish parents, something many of Vox’s frontline politicians themselves don’t even have.
This stance has clashed with some factions within the PP and comes as immigration has been front and centre of Spanish debate in recent years, especially following the government’s programme to regularise the legal status of over 500,000 undocumented migrants that has gained international headlines.
Put simply, for the PP, this connection is about rewarding a citizen’s ties to a region regardless of nationality. For the far-right, however, it means prioritising Spaniards over immigrants in access to public services.
READ ALSO: Why do many figureheads of Spain’s far-right Vox have foreign surnames?
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What is the ‘national priority’?
According to the text, where prioridad nacional appears six times, it is the “priority assignment of public resources to those who maintain a real, lasting and verifiable link to the territory”.
Vox leader, Santiago Abascal, summed up the underlying motivations when speaking with the Spanish media recently. Spaniards, he said, are currently being “discriminated against’” in access to benefits and housing, adding that “that is what is illegal”.
The party’s national spokesperson, José Antonio Fúster, has argued that “Spaniards first in benefits, housing and services”.
Looking at the Extramadura deal, Point 6 of the agreement states: “A system for accessing social housing and social rent will be established, based on the principle of national priority and in accordance with current legislation, which ensures that public resources are allocated as a priority to those who have a genuine, long-standing and verifiable connection to the region.’
This connection, it adds, is based on being registered as a resident in Extremadura and they will require a minimum of 10 years for buying a home and 5 years for renting one.
It also mentions that other criteria will be assessed, such as employment status or “the presence of first-degree relatives” living in the region.
This principle of “national priority” also appears in Chapter 7 and applies to “access to all public aid, grants and benefits”.
Crucially, the text, which makes no mention of foreigners explicitly, adds that to achieve these objectives, “a call will be made for the amendment of Organic Law 4/2000”, that is, a reform to Spain’s Immigration Act.
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Is it legal?
We’re not entirely sure yet. The details are still quite vague.
According to Article 14 of Spain’s Immigration Law: “Foreign residents are entitled to social services and benefits… on the same terms as Spanish nationals”.
However, it may depend on what exactly the authorities in Extremadura try to do. According to legal sources consulted by Euronews, difference in treatment between nationals and non-nationals is not automatically illegal.
The key lies notably between contributory and non-contributory benefits.
Take contributory pensions or unemployment benefits, for example, with which you cannot discriminate on the basis of nationality. Anyone who has paid contributions has entitlement, regardless of whether they are Spanish, a citizen of the European Union or a non-EU national.
On the other hand, in the case of certain social benefits, Member States do have the right to impose conditions such as length of residence, roots in the country or financial circumstances.
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What does this mean for politics?
Legal or not, realistic or not, the politics of this measure are clear and could provide some insight into immigration policy on a national level in the near future.
If the polls are correct, the Spanish right will win the next general election, slated for sometime in 2027. However, the PP are likely to need Vox in order to get a governable majority.
The concessions made by the PP in Extremadura, therefore, take on extra weight. That the two parties are making deals again could likely mean something similar happens on a national level next year.
If the polls are right and that is to happen, Spain would surely see a markedly different immigration policy under a PP-Vox coalition than under the current Sánchez government, one of the few in Europe making a pro-migration argument.
