Globalization allows and encourages the transfer of goods and capital in all directions. But it has not lifted the borders so that people can move and settle freely. The case of a cruise ship detained in Barcelona is very recent because 69 Bolivian passengers did not have valid visas and the 1,500 cruise passengers were forced to spend two days on the ship anchored in the port and the Bolivians have been deported by plane.
What a liberating feeling I experienced, when the Schengen treaty was implemented in 1986, when I moved to Munich without anyone asking me for any documentation until I arrived at the Bavarian hotel where I stayed. The free movement of citizens through the so-called Schengen territory and the establishment of the euro have been two of the main elements of European cohesion. Also the Erasmus scholarships, which have broken down so many cultural and national prejudices.
Migration is inevitable and in the case of Europe it is necessary to correct the declining demographic curve, maintain the pace of economic growth and ensure the welfare state for future generations. If all the foreigners who have arrived in this century left in one year, the country as a whole would collapse. I don't know what path the legislative initiative will take to grant Spanish citizenship to half a million migrants who live and work here without the relevant documentation. It seems to me that it is fair to grant them citizenship with all the rights and all the duties.
About 200 million humans, 2.4% of the world's population, live outside their native country. They are not a problem but rather provide many solutions. The exploitation of fear of foreigners provokes hate speech and xenophobia. The European Parliament has approved a migration pact on the eve of the June elections in which conditions are toughened for migrants entering Union territory.
It is a pact of fear of the growth of far-right parties, which have made migrants one of the main electoral assets. Managing migration is not easy, but fostering hostility towards those who have arrived seems collectively suicidal to me. The antidote is more resources for integration and fewer speeches loaded with supremacist prejudices and contempt for others.
