Integration Contracts for Immigrants to Spain

[Expat_teacher]

Hiya everyone! It's been awhile since I posted but I see that everyone is still alive and kickin´ at the café which is good to know!

Seeing as this is the meeting place for Expats, I was wondering what everyone's opinion was on what Rajoy and PP are proposing with regards to the Integration Contracts for immigrants in Spain.

I heard that if PP is elected next month, Rajoy plans on imposing a contract of sorts on all immigrants who are applying for a residence or work visa of longer than 12 months. Supposedly in this contract the immigrants must agree to uphold all laws of the country, respect the Spanish culture and Spanish way of life, make an effort to integrate and learn Spanish.

I dunno, it sounds as if the moderate right of Spain is moving further to the right. What does everyone else think?

[RebeccaG]

Hello Expat Teacher,

Long time no see. Well, if PP wins the elections next month and this integration contract goes through, I imagine it will affect you as much as me.

Interestingly enough it isn't just Spain who is talking about such a contract, there are discussions on the European level about implementing such a contract in all EU countries.

Quiet frankly, I am not really clear on what they mean when they say integrate since they haven't established measureable points and it's all really quite subjective. What is also not clear is how they will go about making sure that the contract is actually upheld. The government has difficulty keeping track of the nationals and their tax paying habits (or lack thereof), I am hard pressed to believe that they will be able to enforce a contract for resident immigrants. Especially since they 't been able to alleviate the long 5-hour waits at the main office on General Pardiñas.

I suppose we will be closer to the answers in a couple of weeks when we see who the governing party will be!

Great topic for discussion!

-Rebecca