Spain’s impact if eight millions immigrants were deported isn’t pretty

SPAIN’S far-right party Vox was on the receiving end of a powerful backlash after it outlined a radical plan to deport all eight million immigrants in the country – including those already naturalised and even their kids.

Vox’s demographic emergency spokesperson Rocío de Meer later walked back the comments, explaining that the party would only target recently-arrived and non-working immigrants with criminal tendencies and a devotion to religious extremism.

Leading economists have warned, however, that the economy of Spain would collapse quickly and completely if all immigrants were expelled.

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According to an analysis by Spanish TV channel, such a mass deportation could strip Spain of one fifth of its workforce. laSextaThe report examined the disastrous economic consequences of the proposal.

Massimo Cermelli is a professor of economics and management at Deusto Business School. 

“The system will collapse from a perspective of growth.”

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Spain currently hosts nearly 9.5 million migrants in various legal situations, with more than 7.5 million in employment – representing 85% of the migrant population. 

These figures show how dependent the Spanish workforce has become on foreign workers in multiple sectors.

Most of the impact will be felt in the domestic service sector, where three out four workers are migrants. 

A third of the construction and agricultural workforce in Spain is made up of migrants, while half of the hospitality workers in Spain are foreigners. 

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One quarter of the transportation and distribution workforce is also from overseas.

Francisco, a Sevilla farmer, sent a clear message to those who advocate mass deportations. “They will have to come and pick their own olives.”

His words reflect the reality of Spain’s most important industries where migrant workers are indispensable for caregiving, delivery, and construction. 

Without them, services like these simply cannot be offered at current levels.

Carmen González, senior researcher at the Elcano Royal Institute, warned that sudden mass deportations would force many sectors to either disappear entirely or dramatically shrink. 

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She added that “if they disappeared, many sectors of the economy would either have to disappear or shrink much more than they do today.”

Already, the economic effects of Donald Trump’s policy of deporting one million migrants have begun to affect the US economy. 

Cermelli said that the deportation statistics, i.e., the reduction of labour supply, are already having an impact, along with the tariff introduction.

Experts say that rather than mass expulsions the solution lies in adapting current systems to better integrate new arrivals into Spanish society.

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