Sanchez Rejects Criticism of Spain's Migration Policy in Brussels: Words Do Not Match Reality

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pushed back on Thursday, during the European Council summit in Brussels, against criticism from several European leaders of Spain's migration policy, centered mainly on the government's extraordinary regularization plan for around 600,000 people living in the country without legal status.

Among the harshest critics, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis accused Spain of being willing to replace its own population and warned he would tighten border controls in response to that policy. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called for the European Union to closely scrutinize the regularization plan, while Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker described it as a bad signal with consequences for the whole bloc.

Sanchez rejected the criticism as disconnected from the data and the real results of Spain's migration policy. He drew a distinction between a substantive disagreement with Denmark and what he called far right rhetoric coming from the Czech government, and argued that Spain exercises responsible control of irregular migration through interceptions in the Atlantic, entry refusals at airports and international cooperation with third countries.

According to figures presented at the summit, more than one million people have applied for Spain's extraordinary regularization program. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also cited a 56 percent drop in irregular crossings of the EU's borders over the past two years.

The episode highlighted the divisions that persist among member states over implementing the EU's migration pact. France backed Spain's position during the summit, while Poland and Italy pushed to include tougher language in the final conclusions, a reflection of the ideological differences that continue to shape the migration debate across Europe.