In 2008, the government of Spain has announced that it will be increasing its immigration budget with an additional €321 million. The Spanish Labour Minister Jesus Caldera has recently announced this budget increase for the integration of immigration policies. The number of Spanish immigrants has grown in 1996 from 500,000 immigrants to a whopping 4.48 million in the year 2006, according to the National Statistics Bureau of Spain.
The biggest percentage of funds will be allotted for the integration of programs in the amount of €312.51 million. On the other hand, the remaining €8.58 million will be used to control the borders of Spain. In addition to this announcement made by the labour minister, Spain is also set to call a common immigration policy, along with Portugal, across the other member states of the European Union.
The Spanish secretary of state for European affairs Alberto Navarro said in a recent interview that, “This common policy should include integration policies for the 25 million immigrants who currently live in Europe legally.” On the other hand, Manuel Lobo Antunes, his Portuguese counterpart, has professed their support to Spain in its fight to address illegal immigration through the Canary Islands. A figure of 30,000 illegal immigrants was reported to have reached the Canary Islands in the year 2006 alone.
The government of Spain has encouraged business executives to travel to Senegal and hire workers directly. The hired employees can get contracts, trainings, and visas or work permits. This is a better approach seen by the other countries like Senegal, as compared to other stances made by some EU members like France. Note that France has a rigid approach to immigration so that it even offers financial help to some of the migrant families, if they go back to their home country.