The Vice President of Spain, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega cleared up any possible doubt about her country’s stance on Europe’s harsh new immigration directive — “The Return Directive” — which would criminalize immigrants and allow them to be held up to 18 months before deportation. Speaking at a roundtable on immigration in the Dominican Republic — and flanked by her party’s Secretary of Integration, a Dominican immigrant and naturalized Spanish citizen, Bernarda Jiménez — De la Vega made things perfectly clear:

De La Vega said “[The Directive] has not been applied and will never be applied,” and asked that Latinos looking to immigrate to Spain “remain calm”, stating that Spain’s national laws provide for a maximum of 40 days detention if immigrants are picked up by authorities. In a serious tone, De La Vega ended her statement by saying “Is that clear?” She also urged potential immigrants not to worry about the economic slowdown which has left many in the construction business — a key sector for immigrants — jobless because Spain is poised to “continue growing”, insinuating that foreign labor will still be in demand.

Wow, sounds exactly like when our politicians talk about immigration, right?

Via / Público