BBCSuch asylum seekers can find work six months after arriving in Spain
A group of sub-Saharan African men play bingo in a hotel conference room near the northern Spanish city of León.
Although they laugh and celebrate when their number is called, many asylum seekers have harrowing stories.
Among them is Michael, who fled Ghana to escape a violent conflict in which his sister and father were killed. After crossing overland into Morocco, he paid a human trafficker to take him to the Canary Islands in a rubber boat full of people.
“I was so happy because I knew that all the problems I had and the people who were trying to kill me were behind me,” he says. “You’ll be safe once you get into Spain."
In Ghana, he worked as a petrol pump attendant and shopkeeper. He has also started studying human resources management and hopes to continue his studies after settling in Spain.
“Spain is one of the most respected countries in the world,” he says. “Being here is an opportunity for me.”
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Migrants and refugees attempting to reach Spain in small boats often have to be rescued
Around 170 asylum seekers are staying at the hotel in the town of Villaquilambre, which has been converted into a migration center.
They are among the thousands of people who use the sea route between the African coast and Spain each year.
More than 42,000 illegal migrants have entered Spain so far this year, 59% more than in 2023, with the majority making the dangerous journey to the Canary Islands.
The archipelago’s difficulty managing these large numbers of people has contributed to intense political debates over immigration, as in many other European countries. In Spain, much of this debate has been led by the far-right party Vox, which has frequently described the trend as an “invasion.”
But the arrivals also highlight that they represent a major source of potential talent for an economy facing severe demographic challenges.
Javier Díaz Jiménez, economics professor and pension expert at IESE Business School, says the baby boom that lasted from the mid-50s to the late 70s created a generation of Spaniards heading towards pension age. And the ensuing “baby accident” means there are not enough workers to replace them.
“The next 20 years are going to be very important because more and more people are retiring,” he says. “According to the latest demographic scenario, 14.1 million people will retire during that period.”
One way to tackle the labor shortage, he says, is to emulate the economic model practiced by Japan, which also has a low birth rate, by investing heavily in algorithms and machines. The obvious alternative is immigration.
“If we want to grow GDP, if we want to pay pensions to all the baby boomers who are retiring, we need to grow GDP in a different way than we do now. “We bring them through immigration,” Professor Díaz Jimenez added.
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Spain’s population is aging
Spain’s central bank has released figures for the expected labor shortage. A report released in April said the country would need about 25 million immigrants over the next 30 years.
Spain’s left-wing government has also taken up the economic issue of immigration, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who recently visited Mauritania, Gambia and Senegal, saying immigrants represent the country’s “wealth, development and prosperity.”
“The contribution of migrant workers to our economy is fundamental, as is the sustainability of our social security system and pensions,” he said.
Mr. Sánchez’s coalition hopes that a proposal to legalize the status of up to 500,000 illegal immigrants, mainly from Latin America, will pass Congress. There have been nine such large-scale regularizations in Spain during the democratic era, most recently in 2005 under the previous government led by Spain’s Socialist Workers’ Party.
However, the country’s economic needs are in contrast to the general Spanish perception of immigration. A new poll shows that 41% of people are “very concerned” about the phenomenon, making it their fifth biggest concern after inflation, housing, inequality and unemployment.
Only 9% of Spaniards associate immigration with economic development, while 30% associate immigration with insecurity and 57% think there are too many immigrants.
Meanwhile, Villakilambre is an example of how illegal immigrants can integrate into the workforce.
Asylum seekers here are allowed to work six months after arriving in Spain.
Dolores Queiro of the non-governmental organization San Juan de Dios Foundation said: “Before they start working, we will help them learn Spanish and provide them with training courses and classes on risk avoidance.” We put a lot of emphasis on it.” He manages an immigration center in Villaquilambre.
“As they get closer to starting work, we reach out to different companies, who in turn contact us, and we start looking for jobs for them.”
Companies contact us because they know there are people who want to work here, she says.
Makan, originally from Mali, currently works for a local company in Spain.
Makan, who is originally from Mali, just started working at Glamareon, a local company that makes walls, bathrooms and kitchen counters from marble and granite. He commutes the short distance from his hotel to the factory every day on an electric scooter.
“I’m happy to be working,” he said in broken Spanish after finishing a shift hauling marble slabs around the factory.
Ramiro Rodríguez Arraez, co-owner of the business, which employs about 20 people, says finding workers is not easy.
“This profession requires a lot of people, but it’s not a job that many young people here want to do because it’s tough, cold and requires lifting heavy weights.
“There aren’t many companies in this industry, but all the companies that exist need people. We’re all looking for people locally, but we can’t find them.”
He added: “Immigrants provide us with an important human resource.”
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