Tensions in new Spanish coalition over new asylum requirements

The Spanish coalition government between the Socialist Party (PSOE) and the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos is showing the first signs of tensions over plans to introduce tougher asylum requirements. Spain’s Interior Ministry is drafting a new law that will restrict the right to asylum, following the path taken by the European Union in recent years. A draft of the bill, to which EL PAÍS has had access, limits access to asylum application at migrant holding centres, and expands the list of legitimate reasons for denial, according to El Pais

But this is not the only source of conflict. Indeed, the tension between the two parties has been building for weeks in response to Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska’s tougher stance on immigration. In recent months, the minister has increased deportations of undocumented migrants to Mauritania to relieve pressure on Spain’s Canary Islands, which have seen a huge spike in irregular arrivals.

Via el Pais