Spain: Socialist government turns on immigrants as economy heads for recession

When Spain was experiencing high annual economic growth rates, immigrant workers were welcomed into the country. Immigration, even illegal immigration, was promoted as a “win-win” situation in which Spanish businesses got cheap labour and the immigrants’ home countries benefited from the money the immigrant workers sent back.

However, in recent weeks panic has set in as the economy has started to nose-dive. Zapatero went on TV in early July to admit there is a “crisis”. Economy Minister Pedro Solbes called the situation “the most complex crisis we have ever faced” and Industry Minister Miguel Sebastián said the country is “almost in recession”.

In an assessment made last month the International Monetary Fund indicated Spain will be amongst the nations worst affected by the worldwide economic downturn and predicts a 1.8 percent growth rate compared to nearly four percent in 2007. Even this figure now seems optimistic; the government has revised its own forecast to one percent this year. As Susana Garcia of Deutsche Bank noted, “The slowdown was inevitable. What has been shocking is the speed at which it has hit.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2008/aug2008/imm-a04.shtml