Hand to hand

The difference between a tourist and an immigrant is that one is by choice, while the other is by necessity. With the arrival of the crisis, the discourse against immigration has only hardened, focusing more on what is received by the public administration and omitting what they contribute, therefore, the latest study by Ikuspegi has tried to put official figures and data on these aspects as far as the Basque Country is concerned. The data provided has been clear; immigrants contribute more than they receive to the Basque economy.

This project has been carried out by the Basque Immigration Observatory together with the University of the Basque Country with two specific objectives. On the one hand, to make a balance between the use of welfare systems and the contribution of the population of foreign nationality in economic terms to the public administration in the Basque Country and to Social Security, on the other, to analyze the demographic impact of the population foreign.

As far as demographics are concerned, the study echoes the positive impact of immigration, which has meant that it has not decreased in recent years, helping to preserve the threatened pension system.