Misinformation about foreign people living in Spain has grown in recent years, with claims without context or evidence such as those that indicate that this sector of the population monopolizes public health or receives more social assistance.
These "myths" have been collected and refuted in the latest report of the Forum for the Social Integration of Immigrants, an body formed by public institutions, migrant associations and social entities that work for their integration.
The publication encourages to "face" this type of misinformation with "verified data from official sources" or by relating it to other circumstances that make this type of claims lose their meaning.
During the presentation of the report, the vice president of the Forum, Vladimir Paspuel, warned of the increase in racist and xenophobic discourses and gave as an example when, in the last campaign for the European elections, he stated that he was going to vote and they reproached him: "You, European? With that face?.
In the same line, the Secretary of State for Migration, Pilar Cancela, invited to reflect on the difference in the response given by some sectors of the Spanish population towards migrants fleeing conflicts that endanger their lives depending on their country of origin or their skin color.
Only 13% of the population in Spain is foreign
One of the "myths" to which the report refers is the tendency of some people to overestimate the migrant population in Spain, pointing this index at a rate higher than 25%.
As reflected in the publication, the most recent Continuous Population Statistics from the National Institute of Statistics indicates that, as of January 1, 2024, only 13.3% of the population in Spain was of foreign nationality.
The report draws attention to the term "immigrant", which is "changing in the imaginary of society and tends to include or exclude nationalities and people based on different criteria".
It is difficult for citizens of the United Kingdom to be considered immigrants, despite being nationals of third countries, while the 627,478 people of Romanian nationality who live in Spain, citizens of the European Union and holders of the right to free movement, are perceived as such.
Immigrants do not collapse public health
The report refers to the false belief that the foreign population comes to Spain to benefit from public health, which produces a "collapse" of it.
To deny this extreme, it refers to the National Health Survey of 2017, which revealed that, of the 16 million medical consultations carried out in the National Health System, 11% were from people born in other countries, which, in addition, does not necessarily mean that they are of foreign nationality.
And it emphasizes that, according to INE data from 2022, the percentage of the population that is of working age and contributes to social security (between 16 and 64 years) is much higher in the migrant population (78%) than in the Spanish population (63%).
They do not receive more aid than Spaniards
Another of the myths collected in the publication presented this Tuesday is that immigrants "are a burden for Spain and have more social advantages", which is not true, as can be seen in the data from the report on minimum insertion income 2021-2023, aid that is granted to people at risk of social exclusion: of the 305,340 beneficiaries, only 26.1 had foreign nationality.
These regional benefits require immigrants, among other requirements, to be in a situation of regular residence, with the exception of the Basque Country.
"If it were true that the migrant population wants to live on 'handouts'," the report states, the Basque Country "should be one of the communities that attracts the most foreign population" and is, however, one of the seven that presents the lowest percentage.
They do not "take jobs" from the native population, they concentrate on the lowest paid jobs
Contrary to what many think, the labor insertion of migrant people, "far from being a competition" for the native population, is complementary to it and is concentrated in certain less paid occupations, the report reads.
This can be observed in the group of elementary occupations, which includes professions such as domestic workers or construction laborers, with a salary 39% lower than the average.
According to data from the last quarter of 2023, 9% of people of Spanish nationality were in this group compared to 26.1% of foreign people and 22% of those with dual nationality.
In an analysis by sex, foreign women have higher percentages of part-time work than Spanish women, the age at which they become mothers is earlier and the characteristics of their jobs and their remuneration do not allow them to "externalize" the care of children.
Applicants for international protection can work in Spain
The report published this week warns that some management companies and human resources departments recommend not hiring people with certain types of documentation, "either due to ignorance, lack of information or the absence of clear legislation".
A problem that especially faces people applying for international protection: "more and more often, despite having passed the selection process, the hiring does not take place", the publication points out.
Faced with this, the Forum limits itself to pointing out two European directives and a ruling of the Supreme Court that "cast doubt on this false belief".
