Spain: Romanian and Bulgarian labor immigration will be restricted during two years

The Spanish government announced, on October 31st, a moratorium on the entry of Bulgarian and Romanian workers in Spain. The freedom of movement of citizens of these two countries should be restricted during the two years which will follow their entry in the EU. This measure was advocated by the main Spanish trade unions, UGT and CCOO, which feared that massive immigration would unbalance the labour market. Spain had already applied a moratorium of two years for new entrants during the previous EU enlargement. (Ref. 061093)
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A host country. The country already has an important Romanian population, at least 189 000 legal immigrants and around 193 000 illegal ones. There are 55 000 legal Bulgarian immigrants in Spain, and possibly the same number of illegal immigrants. Each day, at the Pyrenean border, police officers notice the arrival of coaches packed with “tourists” from the East, who cross Europe from Austria with the hope, generally justified, to find work in Spain. With an economic growth rate of 3.5% and shar

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