• The Government Delegation brings together about a hundred economic, social and institutional agents in an information day to explain the impact of the new Regulation on Foreigners that enters into force tomorrow

Marisol Garmendia has directed an information day called “New Regulation on Foreigners; changes, challenges and opportunities” before institutional, social, business, workers and professionals representatives of the sector in which the main novelties of the new Regulation on Foreigners approved by the Government of Spain that enters into force tomorrow have been explained. The session, held in the Government Delegation, was attended by, among others, Mikel Torres, second deputy vice-president and Minister of Economy, Labour and Employment of the Basque Government.

For the government delegate, “Without immigration, the Basque Country has no future. Immigrants are not the problem, they are part of the solution.” A strong affirmation to introduce the day. “We must offer them opportunities for training and decent employment so that they can rebuild their lives in our towns and cities, with their families, in an environment of legal and job security as citizens of Spain and the Basque Country, fully integrated and subject to rights and duties. Protagonists, like us, of the socio-economic progress and social cohesion of the whole of Basque and Spanish society”.

Throughout a detailed exhibition, the numerous attendees have had the opportunity to know the main lines of the new regulation and its essential purpose. “The new Regulation on Foreigners approved by the Government of Spain comes into force from tomorrow and will make possible a better integration of migrants in Spanish society, through training and decent work, while responding to the employment needs of companies, industries, businesses, in short, the productive fabric of our country,” said Marisol Garmendia.

Immigration is a reality that will benefit Basque society, according to Garmendia. “We need migrants, of course we need them. To all and to all. We need to increase the working population by 400,000 people in the next three decades, according to Confesbask. And it will not be achieved only by us, the Basques and the Basques, neither today nor our children and grandchildren tomorrow. And anyone who says otherwise or intends to establish quotas and distinctions between necessary and unnecessary migrants is far removed from the Basque economic and social reality.”

The delegate of the Government has given several concrete examples to explain that the nearly 97,000 immigrants who contribute to Social Security in the Basque Country “are contributing like any Basque born in Elorrio, Ordizia or Agurain to support our economy and our state of well-being and quality of life, working and undertaking, opening companies and businesses, revitalizing and rejuvenating our towns and cities, learning many of our two official languages and contributing to making Basque society more plural, diverse and democratic.”

“This new Regulation on Foreigners will help immigrants to have a dignified life opportunity here, in the Basque Country and in the rest of Spain, through decent employment, with labor and social rights, and also duties, facilitating and reducing procedures and deadlines for their employment, with legal certainty, to be able to live with their families, favoring family reunification, in short, for their social integration as first-class citizens.”

Garmendia has called for public-private collaboration to achieve a better and more adequate integration of the people who arrive in the Basque Country “in a shared commitment to offer professional and personal development opportunities to many migrants from all over the world, in our companies and businesses”. He also highlighted the effort of the Government of Spain to strengthen the Delegations and Offices of Foreigners with 750 new officials to be able to manage the new changes brought about by the Regulation of Foreigners.

In addition to the work ahead “to develop all the capabilities provided by the new Regulation on Foreigners to shorten deadlines and offer legal solutions to migrant workers and companies and self-employed contractors”, Garmendia has stressed the need to join forces “to, among all, combat the discourses of hatred, populism and disinformation that manipulate and dehumanize immigrants”.

In Garmendia’s opinion, the entry into force of the new Regulation on Foreigners should serve to “reaffirm our commitment and our ethical and civic duty in favor of the labor, social and citizen inclusion of migrants in Basque and Spanish society. We have been peoples who have had to emigrate, in the past, fleeing poverty and wars and others welcomed us and gave us opportunities to rebuild our lives. Let us never forget it. Let us do the same now with those who come to us fleeing from the same and seeking the same: a dignified life, work, a home, peace and prosperity.”

For his part, the vicelehendakari Mikel Torres has asserted that “in Basque society there is no one left. Emigration has helped us in the past to build a more economically and socially prosperous society, it helps us in the present and it will help us in the future.” The Minister of Economy, Labour and Employment advocates taking on responsibilities in this regard: “In this we cannot look the other way and we cannot ignore our responsibility, so public administrations must have policies and reception devices that fully integrate these people. And the first thing they need is to regularize their situation so that they can insert themselves into a labor market that they need and we need.

The technical clarifications of the new Regulation on Foreigners have been carried out by Sofía Roig, director of the Work and Immigration Area; Ana Martínez, head of the Provincial Work and Immigration Unit of the Government Subdelegation in Bizkaia; and Santiago Trullos, head of the Provincial Work and Immigration Unit of the Government Subdelegation in Gipuzkoa. “The main innovations that come into force tomorrow and their impact, especially on the labor market, have been addressed. But also in the areas of rooting for migrants and asylum seekers, renewal of authorizations, regime of community relatives of Spaniards, requirements and processing of files…”, explains Garmendia.

After the presentation of the directors and directors of foreigners of the General Administration of the State, the attendees of the day have had the opportunity to ask questions and resolve doubts to face in better conditions and with knowledge of the facts the challenges and opportunities that this important reform entails.