Spanish migration problems

I continue to be unsurprised by the events in the Canary Islands. The Spanish are obviously worried about the effects that it may have on tourism. Hardly surprising, considering that the prospect of boatloads of Africans washing up on the shore certainly puts me off. But, this is no time for being sympathtic towards the Spanish.

As I have mentioned before, the Spanish raised the white flag with an immigration amnesty. This, more than any other event, proves to prospective migrants that the country is a soft touch, and unwilling to enforce the rule of law.

It's rare to here me praising the EU on this blog, or anywhere else, but on this subject we are as one:

While the commission has expressed solidarity with Spain and its efforts to fight immigration, it has also indicated that Madrid may have brought the problem upon itself when it last year put into effect an amnesty programme allowing several hundred thousand people illegally living in the country to apply for work and residency permits.

At the time Spain attracted criticism from other member states for acting unilaterally and, in effect, granting these regularised workers access to the whole of the bloc.

Writing in French daily Le Figaro on Thursday, justice commissioner Franco Frattini said mass regularisation makes it appealing for people to come to countries to live illegally waiting for the day when there might be another amnesty.

He also said that member states should be very strict with employers who employ workers on the black as they create a "pull factor" for people coming from poor countries.

If the Spanish want to stem the tide, it's time to get tough. And remember the golden rule of immigration: never, ever, ever, ever, have an amnesty.