Immigrants responsible for Balearic growth says Minister

PALMA
THE Balearic Minister for Employment and Training, Margarita Nájera, has attributed the economic “lift-off” of the last 10 years to the efforts of immigrant workers.

She said that immigrant workers had been mainly responsible for the increase of 85 percent in GDP in the islands during the period 2000 and 2006.
Nájera was responding to remarks by the former PP Minister for Employment and Training, Cristòbal Huguet, who said this week he was in favour of restricting the amount of workers entering the islands, as there was a lot more looking for work than there was work available.

The Minister, however, cautioned the PP on making these remarks, which she said were designed to arouse “passions”, at a time when it was essential that the Government and the Opposition “be capable of taking a strategic view of the next 10 years and understand what are going to be the real necessities of the Balearic economy”.

She pointed out that the Balearics had a birthrate in decline and predicted that in 20 years' time employers would have a “definite need” for immigrant labour.

Nájera said she thought that her PP counterpart had taken a short-term view, basing his remarks on information gleaned from unemployment figures from the month of January, which showed an increase in the number of immigrants out of work compared to Spaniards.

She said analysis based on one month's figures was not enough to start calling for restrictions on immigrants with the argument that “while there wasn't work for all, you can't give resident permits to non-EU foreigners so they can take unskilled jobs”.

Nájera said that the Balearics had to be equipped with the resources to face the challenges of the future.