Famous is the Spanish government’s offer of
granting Spanish residency permits to foreigners who alleviate the country’s economic
burdens. Introduced in September 2013, a new law rewards
those who buy property worth more than €500,000, invest €1 million or more in
shares of publicly traded Spanish companies, deposit at least €1 million in a
Spanish bank account or make a major business investment leading to job creation
a one year visa, extendable to two years, and renewable thereafter. Spain-lovers
from across the world can now buy themselves a residency in the land of fun and
sun. The generosity does not stop there. Another interesting gesture, this time
orchestrated by the Spanish Justice Minister, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, was drafting a
bill that would grant Sephardic Jews the Spanish nationality. The bill, which
stills needs ratification by the parliament, aims at righting
what the government has called a grievous error when Jews were expelled by the Reyes
Católicos in 1492, compensating their loss by granting them a Spanish passport without
any condition of renouncing their original nationality. The justice Minister said
in an interview at The New York Times in March[1] that
he anticipated that “more than 150,000 people, scattered in the Sephardic
Jewish diaspora, would seek Spanish citizenship under the measure”.
Interesting. So far, the
government, under the first scheme, and according to an El País report[2], has issued
81 visas on the basis of people meeting the law’s requirements, 72 of whom
bought property in the country. Almost half of the new residents are Chinese
and Russian millionaires, the remaining being Ukrainian, Lebanese, Qatari,
Egyptian and Iranian, among others. The government’s figures suggest that the
new visa holders will have spent at least €43 million on property, along with
at least a further €6 million on purchasing bonds. It adds that the visa scheme
will have created around 640 jobs, and around €40 million in investments,
mainly in high-tech industries. Under the second scheme, and according to a Jerusalem
Post[3] report, the Spanish Justice Ministry had already registered
some 3,000 applications and many more are expected to follow.
As noble as both legislations
appear to be, the hidden reasons behind them are not. Granting residency permits on
the basis of economic considerations cheapens the concept of pertaining to a
nation and forming part of its society. Thousands of immigrants arrive to Spain
from African countries looking for opportunities to improve their economic conditions
and form part of the labour force (skilled or not) at the same time. Why are
these immigrants not easily granted the residency permit? Why are they shot
dead at Spanish shores? Why are modest African salesmen who try to
start their humble businesses forced into a life of hide-out and illegality (in terms of not obtaining the required documents not in terms of
business substance nor nature)? Any resident in Spain – legal resident –
understands the bureaucracy and headache that is applying for a residency; why
would a €500,000 check make it an easier one? And once this investor
is given a residency, why cannot he /she get a work permit in the first year? Why
can’t his/her family get a residency as well? Are they a mere piggy bank that
serves the sole purpose of injecting money into the country? Instead of rewarding
these international billionaires and betting on their investment interests, why
not seriously try to boost local businesses and ease unnecessary and complicated
measures that hinder entrepreneurial ambitions of Spanish nationals? The meagre
number of those who actually applied and obtained the residency under the first scheme is an indication of the very poor and insulting logic behind it. Even if
it did save a contractor or two by selling a number of houses, the economy is far from
being saved and the seriousness of residency regulations has been much much
compromised.
Now, the
second scheme, that of the Jews that were wrongly expulsed from Spain. Apart
from the very late apology and quite bizarre compensation, why is the measure racist?
What about the Muslims/Arabs who were expelled? Those are not allowed to apply for a nationality?
Why is that? Did they not lose their property when they left in the fifteenth
century? Did they not have to surrender to the catholic kings and were forced
to either convert or leave? Did they not suffer? Or is suffering exclusive to the
Jewish nation? And as humanitarian as the plan appears to be, the Justice
Minister clearly stated the real reasons lying behind it: the measure, according
to him, “does not only intend to repair an injustice done to Jews, but also to repair
Spain, where Jewish contributions to art, science and literature flourished
before the expulsion”. There
is another thing that flourished before the expulsion Minister Gallardón: the economy. The Jewish community, now
and then, enjoys excellent financial credentials that come at a very critical
time in Spanish history. Ms. Weiss-Tamir (an Israeli lawyer who specializes in applications
for citizenship in European countries[4]) explained that just as Jewish applicants are interested in
Spanish citizenship for sentimental and family reasons, some Israelis are eager to open businesses in Spain. Michael Freund[5], in the same Jerusalem Post report cited above said that “the prospect
of forging anew a link with potentially millions of people of Sephardi
ancestry, and the possible windfall that might ensue as a result of increased
investment and tourism, was surely not lost on the decision-makers in Madrid
when considering the citizenship bill”. He explained that the Sephardic Diaspora can be viewed as a large pool
with the potential to benefit the economy provided that it settles and invests.
Ok, I am generally not against the notion of sealing a deal with the devil himself if that would bring good to people. But things must be called with their proper names. Spain is suffering and needs to use every trick in the book and come up with all sorts of solutions. But don’t lie about your motives please. Remembering in 2012 (when bill was first introduced) to right the wrongs did against the Jewish community is an insult to the intelligence of everyone, Jews being first. Rewarding people with a residency in return for money is actually a commercial deal: give me money I will give you legal rights. Observed from the outside, the Spanish government looks desperate and unethical. Coming clean with the real and hidden motives and going forward with the decisions nonetheless is a lesser evil. Business is business, nothing more, nothing less.
[3] http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Fundamentally-Freund-From-expulsion-to-expediency-Spain-the-Jews-and-Israel-341941
