- Alberto Núñez Feijóo proposes expulsion for criminal conduct as a core pillar of Spain’s potential new migration policy.
- A new points-based visa system would prioritize applicants who fill labor shortages and demonstrate knowledge of Spanish culture.
- The plan requires B2 level Spanish proficiency and faster 72-hour age verification for migrants claiming to be minors.
(SPAIN) – Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of Spain’s Partido Popular, promised a tougher immigration policy if he governs, centered on expulsion for criminal conduct, a points-based visa and stricter rules for nationality and residency.
Feijóo tied the plan to public order and border control. He said, “Whoever comes to commit crimes will be at the border or in prison,” a line the PP has presented as a core principle of its migration plan.
The proposal reaches beyond deportation. It would link legal entry, residence and long-term settlement more closely to employment, language ability and what the party describes as cooperation with Spain’s migration policy by migrants’ countries of origin.
Feijóo cast the package as a choice between “order” and “chaos” in migration policy. He also praised Greece’s migration policy as “fair, austere and humanitarian,” holding it up as a model for a more controlled, state-level approach in Spain.
The measures are political proposals, not enacted law. They would require legislative changes before Spain could put them into effect.
At the center of the package is expulsion for criminal conduct. Feijóo’s phrasing places foreign nationals who commit crimes in a distinct category within his plan, alongside tighter border controls and faster processing for disputed age claims by migrants who say they are minors.
The points-based visa, described as a “visado por puntos,” would favor migrants who work in sectors with labor shortages. It would also give weight to better knowledge of Spanish culture and to whether applicants come from countries whose governments cooperate with Spain’s migration policy.
That approach would move the selection of migrants toward criteria set by labor demand and state priorities. The proposal links entry to measurable attributes rather than treating all work-related migration routes in the same way.
Employment sits at the core of the plan. The proposed visa would be temporary and tied to an employment contract; if the worker loses the job, the plan says they “leave.”
That same link appears in the PP’s approach to settlement. The party has suggested making long-term residency dependent on an employment contract, tightening the connection between a migrant’s legal status and continued participation in the labor market.
Feijóo also proposed stricter access to Spanish nationality. The PP’s plan would require a B2 level of Spanish and a reinforced test on institutional, legal, cultural and historical knowledge.
Those changes would raise the threshold for citizenship beyond the party’s broader focus on entry and residence. Language ability and formal knowledge of Spain’s institutions and history would become more prominent in the path to nationality.
Another part of the proposal targets age verification for migrants who claim to be minors. Feijóo said the process should move faster, with a maximum of 72 hours to resolve age assessment.
If those tests show the person is an adult, the PP wants expulsion measures and potential criminal penalties for fraudulent claims. The proposal places disputed age claims inside a law-enforcement framework rather than treating them solely as an administrative issue.
Border enforcement also features prominently. The plan calls for more police presence at the borders and tougher control of irregular arrivals, matching Feijóo’s broader insistence on a firmer state response.
His praise for Greece’s approach fits that emphasis. By calling it “fair, austere and humanitarian,” Feijóo signaled the kind of model he wants Spain to follow: stricter control at the frontier, tighter rules inside the system and narrower conditions for staying long term.
The package also reflects a more selective view of legal migration. Under the proposed points-based visa, labor shortages would help determine who enters, while cultural knowledge and cooperation by origin countries would influence who receives preference.
That would put the points-based visa at the center of the PP’s immigration platform, not as a technical change but as a sorting mechanism for work-related migration. Applicants in labor-short sectors would stand to benefit, while those outside those categories would face a narrower route.
Feijóo’s proposal pairs that selectivity with stricter consequences after arrival. Expulsion for criminal conduct, temporary residence tied to work, faster age determinations and tighter nationality rules form a single framework built around compliance, employment and state control.
The emphasis on expulsion is also the part of the message Feijóo delivered most bluntly. His statement, “Whoever comes to commit crimes will be at the border or in prison,” leaves little ambiguity about how the PP wants to frame migration enforcement if it takes power.
The PP’s wider plan would also reorder the sequence of migration policy. Border enforcement and admissibility would come first, work-based selection second, and access to long-term residence and citizenship only after meeting stricter conditions.
In that structure, labor needs would not stand alone. The proposed points-based visa would also weigh knowledge of Spanish culture and the level of cooperation shown by other governments, giving the state a larger role in deciding which migrants fit its priorities.
Nationality rules would tighten in parallel. Requiring B2 Spanish and a reinforced test on institutional, legal, cultural and historical knowledge would place citizenship farther down the line and behind a more demanding set of formal conditions.
The plan on minors would also compress decision-making into a short timetable. Feijóo’s call for age verification to be resolved within 72 hours signals a faster administrative process paired with expulsion measures and possible criminal penalties if a claim is found to be fraudulent.
Border policy, residence status and citizenship all move in the same direction under the PP proposal. More police presence at borders, tougher control of irregular arrivals, long-term residency linked to employment and expulsion for criminal conduct all sit within the same package.
Whether any of those measures take effect depends on political power and legislative action. For now, Feijóo has set out a migration agenda built around stricter enforcement, tighter eligibility standards and a points-based visa system that he says would impose “order” where he sees “chaos.”
