Spain's Opposition Party Accused of Xenophobia Ahead of Election

Spain's leading immigrant rights group yesterday accused the main opposition party of exploiting and encouraging xenophobia as part of its electoral campaign, two days before the country goes to the polls.

Acoge, made up of 34 NGOs working on behalf of Spain's 5 million-strong immigrant population, accused Mariano Rajoy, the leader of the rightwing Popular party (PP), of "fertilizing the ground in order to produce racial conflict in Spain". It said the PP would have to "accept responsibility if and when racial violence occurs".

Spain has been radically transformed in the past 10 years, with 10% of the 45 million inhabitants now foreign-born. Mainly from South America, but also north Africa and eastern Europe, many immigrants were attracted by a decade-long economic boom, particularly in the construction industry. But as the economy slows down many Spaniards are now asking whether there is room for those immigrants.

Last weekend the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at anti-fascist protesters in Madrid as they tried to stop a neo-Nazi rally in the city's Tirso de Molina area, which has a large immigrant population.

Victor Amarilla Soles, who owns a bar nearby, said: "Immigration is a very important issue for Spain at the moment. We need to help those countries where immigrants come from so that they can create their own industries."

Rajoy has seized on fears of overcrowding, proposing a code of conduct for new immigrants which would see them expelled from the country if they are unable to find a job within a year. He also wants all immigrants to sign a pledge to "abide by the laws, respect Spanish values, learn the language and pay taxes". This has led to charges of xenophobia from the left and anti-racism groups. Although most immigrants do not have the right to vote in the elections, they have found themselves at the center of the campaign.

In the Canary Islands, where thousands of African migrants land by sea each year, Rajoy told PP supporters there was "no room for so many immigrants". He has also attacked the Spanish government's amnesty for 700,000 illegal immigrants in 2005, claiming it caused an "avalanche".

"In 2006, we took in more immigrants than France, Germany, Italy and the UK combined. We have to put some order here," said Rajoy.

Aware that this is an issue that could drive traditional working-class socialist voters away from his party, the prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, tried to dodge the question of immigration in the first of two TV debates between him and Rajoy. But it has become such a hot topic that, in the second debate earlier this week, he confronted Rajoy, saying that between 1994 and 2000, the then-governing PP also carried out amnesties, when they "let in 1 million people without papers and legalized them five times".