Spain’s Government Decides To Reintroduce Work Permits For Romanians

Daily La Vanguardia reported in its online edition Friday that, according to Jose Blanco, the Spanish Government's decision is aimed to fight the black market and adjust the number of workers that come to work in Spain to the labor market needs.

According to the Spanish official, the measure won't affect Romanians already working in Spain, but those wishing to start work in Spain will have to apply for a work permit.

Jose Blanco said the decision taken by the Spanish Government does not violate regulations on free movement in the European Union, according to La Vanguardia. He added Spanish authorities will inform the EU as soon as possible about the decision to restrict Romanians' access to the local labor market.

The Spanish Government said in a press release Friday the decision to introduce labor market restrictions for Romanians is only temporary and will be revised considering the local labor market development.

Romanians constitute the biggest immigrant community in Spain and 861,584 Romanians live there, most of them in the Madrid region.

Spain is one of the few western European countries to open a wide part of its labor market to Romanians when Romania entered the European Union in 2007. The Spanish labor market was fully opened to Romanians starting January 1, 2009.

The Council of Minister in Madrid discussed Friday the proposition of the Spanish Ministry for Labor and Immigration to temporarily restrict Romanians' access to the local labor market, a measure due to be enforced as of August 1, as the country is facing an unemployment rate of 20%, Spanish media reported Thursday.

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