With Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez legalizing what could amount to as many as 1.6 million migrants, other EU member states are getting worried, and not just neighboring France.
While the Socialist prime minister’s announcement originally aimed to naturalize some 500,000 migrants by handing them residency permits and work permits, German authorities estimate that there could be as many as 850,000 applicants in Spain, writes Bild. Leaked internal Spanish police documents have already put this estimated number even higher, at 1.6 million.
Since the announcement in mid-April, hordes of undocumented migrants have been overwhelming local offices across the country, with nearly 130,000 applications in the first week alone. Remix News posted videos of these crowds.
French conservatives sounded the alarm early on, with National Rally leader Jordan Bardella slamming the ability for residence permits to freely move around the EU.
“I believe that free movement within the Schengen Area should be reserved exclusively for nationals of European countries. Obtaining a residence permit in Spain, for example, should not allow free movement throughout all European Union countries,” he wrote.
Now, Germany’s Foreign Office in Berlin has stated: “We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with Spain.”
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry also sought to clarify that a Schengen residence permit does not, in principle, authorize employment in Germany. Having one allows you to enter Germany and stay for a maximum of three months at a time.
The domestic policy spokesman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Alexander Throm (CDU), also expressed his concerns, according to Bild: “Such mass legalization sends a devastating signal to the world and creates an incalculable pull effect.”
Police union representative Manuel Ostermann has also warned of potential consequences given that many entering Europe are attracted to German jobs and benefits.
“If the Spanish minority government fails, and a future government reduces payments or terminates residency permits, many of the migrants will continue their journey to Germany and remain here. Whether permitted or not,” he warned.
Of course, jobs in Germany are already becoming scarce, including over 120,000 industrial jobs being shed last year, and after years of mass immigration, the German economy continues to go from weakness ot weakness.
Germany has already had problems with secondary migration from Greece for years. Last April, the country’s Federal Administrative Court authorized migrant deportations to Greece for the first time in years.
Ostermann is now warning: “The migration crisis is not over. Germany must therefore consistently eliminate the remaining pull factors,” he says, adding that Germany should abolish “excessive financial incentives” and replace them with the principle of “bread and butter.”