After the UK authorities lately unveiled immigration plans impressed by one other centre-left authorities in Copenhagen, The Local appears to be like to Spain and considers how the hardline Danish mannequin is not the one method to answer Europe’s surge in anti-immigration sentiment.
There are arguably solely three centre-left governments left in western Europe: Denmark, Spain and the UK.
Many may query their leftist credentials however these are international locations nonetheless ruled by the kinds of conventional Socialist or Social Democratic events which have elsewhere in Europe suffered the Pasokification course of and disappeared into electoral irrelevance.
The three centre-left governments have little in widespread however are all incumbents as Europe undergoes an anti-immigration surge framed by extra outspoken right-wing rhetoric.
Perhaps much less surprisingly centre-right governments in international locations like France and Germany have additionally been swept to the correct on immigration, however on the left two clear paths have emerged.
In London, the Labour authorities lately outlined hardline asylum and immigration guidelines that imitate Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democrats. In Madrid, nonetheless, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists have taken a unique strategy.
READ ALSO: Which of Europe’s anti-immigration events are probably the most excessive?
The Danish mannequin
After Denmark’s far-right Danish People’s Party (DF) received over a fifth of the votes in the 2015 elections, the centre-left Social Democrats (SD) recalibrated its immigration insurance policies. It joined the centre-right and DF in a so-called “paradigm shift” on immigration in 2019 that treats all refugees as having short-term standing, and the SD has additionally adopted stricter approaches to citizenship, an ongoing plan to display screen the views of candidates, and Denmark is one in every of eight EU states to urge a rethink of the ECHR.
Electorally talking it has, in a way, ‘labored’: the far-right DF’s vote share plummeted to eight.7 % in 2019 and a pair of.6 % in 2022. However, the current SD defeat in native elections, together with shedding the Copenhagen mayor’s seat after a century in energy, was symptomatic of poor outcomes throughout the nation and has been interpreted by some as a referendum on the celebration’s rightward flip.
Professor Michelle Pace, Professor of Global Studies at Roskilde University, has spent years learning Denmark’s immigration insurance policies. She suggests the ends in the native elections reveal the constraints of the SD’s transfer to the correct on immigration.
She tells The Local that in Denmark there’s “a discord between what politicians are saying and what most people and majority really feel on this concern,” pointing to the “harsh rhetoric” directed in the direction of migrants and asylum seekers as a attainable rationalization for the poor efficiency in elections.
The SD’s extra hardline insurance policies seem to have had an impression when it comes to uncooked numbers with Denmark recording traditionally low numbers of asylum claims lately.
They’ve additionally perturbed conventional voters by perceived performative cruelty, notably the controversial “Jewellery Law” of 2016 that takes valuables from asylum seekers.
The legislation was really handed by a earlier centre-right authorities, however it was backed by the Social Democrats in opposition. However though it made headlines it has not typically been enforced.
Figures from the Danish Immigration Ministry present simply 194 instances of jewelry being confiscated within the interval between January 2016-June 2025.
Put merely: powerful speak to indicate the left is not comfortable on immigration in a rightward shifting debate. The jewelry legislation “was solely a rhetorical deterrent,” Pace says, however added to the hostile surroundings and bolstered the thought of Frederiksen because the ‘Iron Lady’.”
In a current article for The Conversation Pace gave a transparent warning to centrist governments round Europe trying to mimic Denmark. Reducing asylum numbers comes at a human and authorized prices, she says.
“Any authorities trying to copy this strategy ought to look past the statistics and take into account the true experiences of the folks affected. Denmark’s story is a reminder that migration coverage isn’t just about managing numbers — it is usually concerning the lives which are formed by these insurance policies,” Pace says.
The Spanish mannequin
Spain’s centre-left PM Pedro Sánchez is one thing of an endangered species within the 2020s. He’s an unashamedly pro-immigration chief who would not ventriloquize right-wing rhetoric, however as an alternative hyperlinks immigration to the long-term prosperity of the nation.
For the Spanish left, immigration shouldn’t be solely an ethical and authorized obligation however a public good for all Spaniards: “Welcoming those that come from overseas searching for a greater life shouldn’t be solely an obligation that worldwide legislation obliges us to fulfil, but in addition a necessary step to ensure the prosperity and sustainability of our welfare state,” Sánchez mentioned lately.
And it is not as if Spain would not have its personal surging far-right. The Vox celebration is rising within the polls, sitting at round 17 % and stealing voters from the centre-right People’s Party.
The downside for Sanchez and his extra open stance on immigration is {that a} hard-right coalition victory appears to be like possible subsequent time Spaniards head to the polls. But nonetheless the Spanish PM refuses to imitate what pundits suppose many citizens wish to hear.
‘Not brief time period rhetoric however long-term financial profit’
Instead of dwindling numbers, immigration has contributed 84 % of Spanish inhabitants development since 2022 and it has been a boon for the workforce and the economic system as an entire.
The majority of these immigrants have joined the labour market, contributed “to increasing the provision [of workers], assuaging labour shortages and boosting financial development” in response to the European Central Bank (ECB).
Spain has outpaced its European neighbours on the again of immigration. In 2024 the Spanish economic system grew by 3.2 %, the quickest price within the Eurozone
In Denmark, the skepticism over inviting expert overseas labour continues regardless of shortages in lots of sectors.
Whereas Copenhagen and London have sought third-country offers to deport asylum seekers lately, Spain has signed worldwide agreements in an effort to entice extra migrants and seasonal staff to make sure authorized and secure migration as a result of, Sánchez says, it is the “greatest method to put an finish to irregular migration and the distress related to it”.
Sánchez would not deny that unlawful migration may cause issues in society. Spain has societal tensions like every other. Nonetheless, the Sánchez mannequin, Pace says, appears to be like “not at short-term political rhetoric however relatively long-term to the economic system”.
A research by the Bank of Spain final 12 months estimated that the nation will want 25 million extra immigrant staff by 2053 in an effort to fight demographic ageing and keep the nation’s pension system for a technology of child boomer Spaniards set to retire.
So, confronted with right-wing populism fuelled by anti-immigration sentiment, the are two clear paths being taken in Europe. The Danish mannequin: a tough-talking, deterrent-based coverage that treads on far-right turf with regards to immigration; and the Spanish mannequin, which refuses far-right framing and makes the financial case for immigration.
Ultimately that is about values, Pace says. “It’s concerning the true values of a Social Democratic Party… And that is the place I feel Spain may very well be a really attention-grabbing mannequin, however it’s little or no spoken about,” she says.
The go searching Europe
We touched on many of those themes in our cross-site protection this week. For a fuller breakdown of the Social Democrats defeat in native elections, learn The Local Denmark’s protection right here.
In France, John Lichfield thought of whether or not we’d see a far-right President Bardella of France and concluded that it may occur.
In Sweden, the far-right Sweden Democrat MEP Charlie Weimers has launched an “immigration map” which he claims reveals that Sweden is “present process a dramatic change and that the inhabitants is being changed.” Our personal Richard Orange had a superb tongue-in-cheek response to this showcasing how our immigrant takeover of Sweden is progressing properly.
For this week’s Politics in Sweden, Paul O’Mahony appears to be like again at a handful of scandals in fashionable Swedish historical past that proceed to reverberate as we speak.
Italy has its personal regional polls developing quickly and you may learn The Local Italy’s editor Clare Speak breaking down why regional elections matter and who can vote in them.
Austria will introduce more durable five-day integration programs for refugees in 2026, including a binding declaration and clearer penalties for non-compliance.
And lastly, in Switzerland, the staff took a have a look at the immigration adjustments awaiting foreigners in 2026 and past.
