1. An immigration pact between the major parties (PP and PSOE, as well as those who want to join it) only makes sense, and a lot, if it is to adopt swift and drastic measures that none of them dares to adopt or propose on their own. Otherwise, it would be a simple collusion to adopt four ineffective patches and mutually exonerate themselves from the irresponsibility and lack of concrete answers that everyone (including CC and the entire parliamentary spectrum of the Cortes and all regional parliaments) has had on this issue forever, and more markedly since 1995.
2. Let us remember that the immigration issue was evaded from political debate in the general elections of 1996, 2000 and 2004, as well as in the regional elections of 1995, 1999 and 2003. On this last occasion (2003), the problem being already very serious, the parties with previous representation (PSOE, CC, PIL and, tacitly, the PP) reached the cynicism of signing a shameful "pact of silence" on immigration. The partisan approach was more or less this: "We divide the cake, come what may, but we don't get involved in this issue". And so it was: handshake, and on to other things. That's how we are.
3. I observe, with great frustration and concern, and with indignation, that the PP's tactic is, taking advantage of the fact that there is no strong party to its right, to wait slyly for the overflow of immigration out of control to bring it votes per se until 2008, without getting involved by offering in-depth solutions. This, in the situation we are in, is a betrayal of the people.
4. Something similar happens with CC: on September 14, its proposals in the Congress of Deputies (rejected by the PSOE and the groups that support it, to top it off) were so timid (perhaps due to the burden of sharing a group with Román Rodríguez and NC) that they would not even allow us to effectively address the current situation, let alone anticipate with force the aggravation that is looming and that our suicidal inaction encourages instead of dissuading.
5. The minimum bases of a PSOE-PP agreement on immigration must be the following:
a) Consider illegal immigrants detained as prisoners and eliminate the 40-day detention limit.
b) Equalize, for the purposes of expulsion, the rights of adolescents and adults, denouncing for these purposes the international agreements that Spain has signed in this regard. (Disassociate ourselves from these agreements, so that everyone understands us. It cannot be admitted that thousands of young men who have entered here illegally and "deliberately" benefit, and intend to continue doing so by the thousands, from privileges that were intended for the "sporadic" cross-border care of helpless children).
c) Intense intervention (in means and personnel) of the Armed Forces for the detection of illegal immigrants on the coasts of origin, en route, on our coast, in ports and airports and, also, in the interior of Spain, or in any case, of our islands.
d) Expel illegal immigrants (for example, in military prisoner ships) to any country or area of the planet, that is, not necessarily to their country of origin, especially if these detained illegal immigrants conceal their passport and origin.
e) In the case of the Canary Islands, do not allow the entry of non-EU citizens unless they come with a prior consular visa or prior work permit, and exclude, except in a few and very justified cases, their entry as tourists: we all know that the real tourism we receive here comes 99% from Western Europe, so this limitation will not affect our economy, on the contrary, it will benefit it. This control will also be carried out on non-EU citizens who intend to enter the Canary Islands from Community airports, including those in Spanish territory. People who do not meet the entry requirements will be returned to the airports of origin on the next flight, or in any case deported to the place determined and by the means of transport determined.
-All this as a minimum and "now". It is immoral that the government of "all Spaniards" continues indefinitely kidnapped and tied by characters like Llamazares, Joan Herrera and the tiny fraction of the population that they represent.
Emilio de Fez Marrero
