Mediterranean Living

Spain curbs Romanian, Bulgarian workers

October 31 2006

Spain on Tuesday joined Britain in saying that it would restrict access to its labour market for Romanian and Bulgarian workers. Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Spanish foreign minister, said the country would limit access to its market for two years when the two countries join the European Union in January, as it did with other new entrants in 2004.

Spain has one of the highest immigration levels in Europe and is a favourite destination for Romanian workers, whose language is similar. An estimated 400,000 Romanians and 160,000 Bulgarians already live in Spain, about half of them illegally.

Romania and Bulgaria have protested against the UK’s decision to limit immigration of their workers, disputing the notion that their EU membership would prompt a huge influx of workers to other European countries. They have threatened reciprocal restrictions.

Emilia Maslarova, Bulgarian labour minister, said she was “disappointed” by Britain’s decision to limit immigration from Romania and Bulgaria after adopting an open door policy with other EU entrants.

Ms Maslarova insisted the outflow of Bulgarian migrant workers would be small, citing an opinion poll carried out in August by Gallup International that showed only 46,000 Bulgarians of working age were seriously considering working abroad. Spain and Germany were the top destinations, while the UK ranked sixth, with only about 3,100 to 3,400 intending to go there.

It is debatable how much impact restrictions would have, since any EU citizen with a valid passport is free to go and live in another EU country for up to three months, and self-employed citizens are often not covered by job restrictions.

Representatives of Romanian and Bulgarian workers in Spain argue that restrictions will simply force the thousands of existing workers in the country to continue working off the books.

Gelu Vlasin, spokesman for the federation of Romanian associations in Spain, told Spanish daily El Pais this week: “Fears of an avalanche of immigrants is baseless. What is true is that Romanians work here...and they want to do so legally and to pay taxes.”

Spaniards have become increasingly concerned by the tide of immigrants, despite the fact unemployment between July and September hit its lowest point in 27 years. In a survey published last week, 60 per cent said immigration was their main worry, up from 28 per cent in May last year.

Mr Moratinos gave no indication of the kind of restrictions Spain intended to impose, but Maria Teresa Fernández de la Vega, Spain’s deputy prime minister, said last week any curbs would be less tough than those promised by the UK, which aims to place strict visa requirements on skilled workers.