Spain Grants Amnesty for 700,000 Migrants

[chlamor]

Spain grants amnesty for 700,000 migrants

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Monday May 9, 2005
The Guardian

Spain declared an amnesty yesterday for about 700,000 illegal immigrants - bucking a Europe-wide trend of cracking down on economic migrants, while striking at exploitation of those working secretly and fearfully in the black economy.

The Socialist government claimed that a three-month qualification period that ended at the weekend - during which illegal workers and their employers could apply for residency and work permits - had attracted most of the country's illegal workers.

"We can feel very satisfied," said the labour minister, Jesús Caldera. "Almost 700,000 jobs brought out of the black economy - that represents 80% to 90% of all such jobs held by immigrants in Spain."

Officials said that, with workers' families included, more than a million people would no longer have to hide from police or labour inspectors.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1479385,00.html

[Cocottelle]

1. That's odd

I always thought you ABSOLUTELY could not work in Spain -legally- unless you were a citizen.

[BurtWorm]

2. That's odd.

I thought it was against socialist principles to legalize economic migration. At least that's what some lefties in the US seem to think. Maybe Zapatero is in the back pocket of the capitalists? ;)