In an increasingly divided Europe between Guelphs and Ghibellines, this dysfunctional political family that once was ecumenical and boundary-breaking has found a cause to raise a toast to: strengthening the external borders. If Quevedo saw the walls of his homeland, once strong, now crumbling, he would now sing the praises of Frontex, and celebrate that the rulers of the 21st century have stopped arguing about trivial matters such as the welfare state or the quality of democracy to better dissuade the unfortunate overseas, who are being denied even the possibility of cleaning the floors they aspire to live on. Rishi Sunak, on his Brexit shore, has celebrated the European migration pact with a rave of expulsions to Rwanda, and although the racist right remains silent, this concord is their merit, as it is done to court their voters. They believe that by appeasing the xenophobic devil in this way, conservatives and some social democrats like Scholz and Sánchez among them will calm them down. Perhaps it will work from a strategic and partisan point of view: if people vote for ultra parties out of fear of immigrants, a tough stance will make furious citizens return to the docile fold of traditional bipartisanship. Flawless. There is only one problem: if we accept the mental scheme of those scared by the foreign wolf and offer them a fortified refuge, how will traditional European politics differ from the anti-liberal reaction? Ultra parties will have no place, but because their speeches and projects will be hegemonic. They will lose elections, but they will win the debate.
I miss a vehement and informed opposition to that fear. I miss data against the rumors. I miss brave politicians who, instead of pompously acknowledging that immigration is a problem (what a discovery), expose the truth: the actual dimensions of the foreign-born population, the problems in schools, the social divide, the lack of protection for minors, and the ignominy of border repression. Faced with those who are convinced that each young person who jumps the fence is given a handout, a house, and a job that steals from a Spaniard instead of a blow to the ribs, we must oppose their paranoid beliefs with solid facts, without condescending to their paranoia by telling them that we understand their concerns. I know I am waiting in vain, because the hard truth is that xenophobes vote, and those who suffer from their xenophobia do not. But if European democracy is not able to look beyond the fence, I do not know what remains of Europeanism.
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