MADRID: Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has hailed Spain’s openness to immigration as a model for Europe, saying it has benefited the economy and bolstered state coffers.

While other European nations have tightened their borders against newcomers under pressure from right-wing parties, Spain has championed legal immigration.

The country has opened up paths for migrants to live and work in the country legally, even as it has pushed to police its borders and block irregular migration.

Migration accounts for 80 percent of Spain’s economic growth over the past six years, and accounts for 10 percent of the country’s social security revenues, Sanchez said.

“Spain will continue to defend a migration model that works, one that works for Spain and could also help awaken an aging Europe,” the Socialist premier told a gathering of Spanish ambassadors in Madrid.

“Our model works. There is no so-called ‘pull effect,’” Sanchez added, rejecting critics who argue Spain’s pro-immigration stance fuels illegal migration to the country.

Irregular migrant arrivals to Spain fell by 42.6 percent in 2025 from the previous year to 36,775, largely due to a sharp drop in arrivals along the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, according to Interior Ministry figures.

Spain has reached cooperation agreements with several African nations that are key sources of irregular migration to bolster the fight against smuggling networks.

Spain, the EU’s fourth-largest economy, has outperformed its peers since 2021, supported by tourism, low energy costs, domestic consumption, and foreign investment.

The government forecasts the economy will expand by 2.9 percent in 2025, more than twice the euro zone average.