Trump’s “Build the Wall" resonates again
American president Donald Trump has suggested Spain to build a wall across the Sahara dessert to stop the growing immigration wave that is now becoming a serious issue for the Mediterranean country.
Illegal migration and the refugee crisis are still in the eye of the hurricane even after three years from Europe´s biggest wave of migrants and refugees since the Second World War. The topic dominates the top pages of the political agendas worldwide, and it has two clear distinguished characters: the United States and the European Union. Both of them are working towards an efficient and effective solution to the political and social dispute in their respective territories.
The migration crisis has created tensions among European Union states over how to manage illegal migration, especially that coming from the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Within the last year, Spain has become the main destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, overtaking Italy and Greece. This increase in arrivals has tripled last year’s numbers, positioning the European country on the frontlines of the migration crisis with more than 30,000 refugees and immigrants having entered by sea throughout the year and more than 1,500 dying in the attempt of reaching land. Expectedly, this enormous boost has negatively impacted reception facilities and infrastructure and it has led to political tensions between the new president of the government, Pedro Sanchez, and the former political party, PP.
Nonetheless, illegal immigration does not only concern European countries, as its consequences have also proved troublesome in the United States. President Donald Trump wooed his voters in the 2016 elections campaign promising them to build a wall across the border with Mexico in order to face the issue. Now, Trump has decided to intervene in the European migration crisis as well, as he has recently advised the foreign minister of Spain, Josep Borrell, to emulate his famous resolution and build a wall across the Sahara desert to stop illegal inflow coming from the Mediterranean Sea.
Trump also suggested this alternative to the Spanish Monarchs during their last visit to the White House in June. The American president believes that this measure would improve the political and social panorama of Spain. However, this plan has a clearly defined problem since Spain holds two small enclaves in the African territory, Ceuta and Melilla, and hence the wall suggested by Trump would be built in foreign territory.
The Spanish government has not made further declarations regarding this issue, but for now they do not contemplate building a wall neither closing the ports of the Mediterranean, as the American president has also recommended. The domino effect of this issue threatens to pose a challenge to the European Union as “The Donald’s” controversial advice begins to build diplomatic tensions between both political bodies with a clear target in the crosshairs: Spain.
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