On Sunday 8th November, refugees began arriving to Spain. There were just twelve people, curiously just one of them came from Syria, the other eleven had Eritrean nationality. A fact that confirms that “refugees” is not a word for people running away from Syria because of the war, but is the new “politically correct” word for “illegal immigrants”.
The refugees came from Italy, and with this arrival, Spain begins to fulfill the EU "diktat" (command) on the reception of non-European immigrants, ordered by Angela Merkel and obeyed by the Spanish government without any objection. As has been ordered by Angela Merkel, Spain will host 15,000 refugees in the coming weeks. A country with 17% official unemployment and more than 50% of youth unemployment in regions like Andalusia (South of Spain) is willing to spend money on social foreign aid.
Even more serious is the attitude of the Catalan Parliament at the parliamentarian season on 9th November, when the parliament approved of hosting "the largest number of immigrants possible".
The Mayors of Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, all of whom belong to left-wing parties supported by the new left-wing party PODEMOS, have expressed their favorable view to the arrival of "refugees".
Madrid´s Mayor, Manuela Carmena, spent € 434.15 on a large banner placed in the Madrid City Hall with the words: “Refugees Welcome.” The mayor said she did this “to demonstrate of support for human rights”.
In Barcelona, the mayor, Ada Colau, committed to the integration of immigrants, calling for "open arms to the arrival of refugees", saying that it is "a must do".
Although the issue of refugee reception is not under the power of the mayor but of the Spanish Government, Ada Colau, traveled –with a delegation of seven- to Germany, spending €12,000 of public money to check first in Leipzig (Saxony) and after that in Munich (Bavaria) how the arrival of refugees is being managed in these two Germans cities.
All this while in Valencia, the mayor Joan Ribó, announced that the luxurious and costly building "Veles y Vents”, built for the America's Cup held in Valencia in 2013, will be used to house refugees.
This idyllic situation can be broken quickly, as has happened in most European countries, where the influx of refugees has turned into a permanent conflict. We will see the popular reaction when insecurity increases in the neighborhoods full of new immigrants, and when all those social benefits to immigrants require decreasing the social aid given to the native population.
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