The temptation of the scapegoat
In recent weeks, we have seen how the Prohens government has focused much of its communications efforts on addressing the increase in the arrival of migrants via small boats and the distribution of minors in care. It is true that the data show an upswing that makes it easy to think that the infrastructure for their reception has become saturated. Even so, the phenomenon is sufficiently complex to urge our leaders to take a broad view, offering effective measures to address this problem while avoiding excessively straining coexistence.
Singling out specific groups can generate media attention and electoral support, but from a more global perspective, we know it contributes to increasing social tension. Keeping an eye on how public opinion evolves is key to seeing to what extent this issue becomes the main concern of citizens and whether certain discourses contribute to increasing the stigmatization of certain groups. History is full of examples of how the snowball effect can spiral out of control for those who initially profit from low-level racism, causing them to feel pressure to further radicalize their ideas and their intervention. But this is not only delicate from a perspective of social peace, but also from an ethical perspective: it carries the risk of failing to live up to our moral duty to offer help to newcomers and respect their dignity. This more social and moral perspective, apart from on the left, has also been linked to a Christian political doctrine, which, in part, ideologically inspires the Popular Party.
Throughout all this, the technical nature of the discussion should prevail. And not because disagreements and conflicts don't exist in technical discussions. We already know that ideology is always present, although often invisible: it prioritizes public policies, favors some values over others, etc. However, technique adds a degree of sophistication to our debate about things, elevating us above simplifications of complex social processes. And when it does, it can include the value of social cohesion and respect for the more or less widespread humanism that believes all human beings deserve equal respect. It is on this discussion that we should focus, considering what the best policy is to manage the arrival of these people, bearing in mind that things are not as simple as letting them die at sea or suddenly returning them to the African coast.
But I won't shy away from the issue: we must also offer a remedy to the problem of so many people arriving. And the measures will necessarily have to be structural, including, to be comprehensive, an action plan in North Africa, the implementation of Frontex in the Balearic Islands, and greater support from the Spanish state to assume the cost of the current crisis, both in the distribution of migrants throughout the country and in providing adequate financial support to address it. It may be an unpleasant issue for many people, but ignoring the problem will not provide solutions. And clearly, going from fewer than 200 migrants arriving in the islands by sea in 2018 to almost 6,000 last year is a challenge that requires a political response.
Likewise, even if profound measures are implemented and the migrants who have already reached the coasts are distributed throughout the rest of the country, politicians and citizens here will inevitably have to bear a cost until the flow finally reduces. And this cost includes welcoming some of the people who are already here and those who are arriving. And for this to be possible peacefully, we must ensure that public opinion is not constantly inflamed by speeches that, beyond often being racist and xenophobic, usually simplify what is necessarily complicated and that will not be resolved overnight.
At a time like this, to give some perspective, it's worth remembering that in 2024, migrants of African origin represented 15% of the foreign population in the Balearic Islands, ahead of the population of European origin (31%) and American origin (48%). Or to put it another way: in Mallorca, there are more people born in Andalusia, Colombia, and Argentina than in Morocco. With this, I don't intend to diminish the importance of addressing the arrival of small boats, but rather to focus the debate on demographic pressure, which is real and has consequences for our infrastructure, especially housing.
It's essential to give each aspect the importance it truly deserves. The arrival of migrants by small boat is a serious problem that requires a response, but the problem of underfunding has been around for a long time, as well as our progressive impoverishment, the decline in Catalan speakers, and the increase in demographic pressure. All of these problems are structural, and only a long-term, non-scapegoating approach will get things done.
