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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to worry about large numbers of undocumented men arriving in Spain?

1000 replies

MaturingCheeseball · 30/07/2026 17:34

Thousands of young men from Morocco and beyond swimming to Spain. Spain obviously has encouraged the problem with their amnesty for existing migrants, but thousands more arriving with no means of support and undocumented is going to cause huge problems. Large numbers will no doubt be ultimately trying to reach the UK.

It’s harsh, but we cannot accept infinite numbers of men.

OP posts:
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32
EppingTrain · 31/07/2026 16:24

TopPocketFind · 31/07/2026 15:58

No, but it is remembered 10 years on because it was a rare event.

I assume you don't ignore what happened in the aftermath of the Southport killings either.

Of course I don't. The riots were wrong but they were at least "in response" to something.

There was no reason at all for cologne or for the subsequent assaults and harassments that have followed.

TopPocketFind · 31/07/2026 16:27

CoffeeCantata · 31/07/2026 16:18

Quite.

i keep banging on about how accepting absolutely anyone who arrives in a boat fits in with the housing crisis we’re constantly told about.

How do pps square this circle? Where are these people going to go?

I’m still hoping for an answer…anyone? Because that’s the nub of the problem.

Are you blaming the housing crisis on asylum seekers?

Refugees and asylum seekers make up less than 1% of the population.

Applications this year are down by 19%

mrshoho · 31/07/2026 16:33

EppingTrain · 31/07/2026 16:24

Of course I don't. The riots were wrong but they were at least "in response" to something.

There was no reason at all for cologne or for the subsequent assaults and harassments that have followed.

And the paltry number of actual prosecutions following the cologne mass sexual assaults is/was shameful. That night changed how Germany and other western countries put on large scale gatherings. The sorry excuses of why it happened was maddening. The men thought unaccompanied girls and women in public meant they wanted it. It is quite unbelievable how it has been quietly confined to history.

StripyShirt · 31/07/2026 16:37

Shakeoffyourchains · 31/07/2026 13:29

It's not racist, it's just flawed.

The strongest predictors of crime are age, sex, and socio-economic status, i.e., young men from deprived backgrounds and living in poverty are statistically more likely to commit offences.

So when you compare a migrant population, which is usually made up of young men from poorer regions, against the entire native population, the figures are going to be skewed. Once you control for factors such as age, sex, and socio-economic status, much of the difference in offending rates is reduced and often becomes statistically insignificant.

These stats also often rely on arrest data rather than convictions or unique offenders. That's also an issue, because the same individual can be arrested multiple times, inflating the figures, especially within smaller populations.

But of course, that wouldn't generate outrage or keep people divided, so we just don't speak about it.

I mean the report that everyone quotes from the centre for migration control has literally been proven to be based on false data. The guy who wrote it deleted tabs, made basic arithmetic errors and changed numbers so that the data matched his chosen narrative, yet no one cares!

Then again, many migrants have not been here for long. That would tend to make them less likely to be offenders I would think.

If, despite that, their rates are comparable to long-term residents, doesn't this indicate a greater propensity for crime?

I gather that the collection of data re ethnicity is patchy, so perhaps it is difficult to draw conclusions.

OneStarAwake · 31/07/2026 16:38

EmeraldShamrock000 · 31/07/2026 16:14

Of course they matter, the conversation was about sexual assault. Can you see the difference in an angry mob after children were murdered brutally and an angry mob deciding to sexually assault women. Both wrong, not equal.

IIRC a good percentage of that angry mob were abusers. They care nothing about MVAWG, they just like an excuse for a riot.

StripyShirt · 31/07/2026 16:38

EppingTrain · 31/07/2026 15:37

Do people ignore what happened in cologne?

Cologne changed my attitude toward immigration overnight.

mrshoho · 31/07/2026 16:41

OneStarAwake · 31/07/2026 16:38

IIRC a good percentage of that angry mob were abusers. They care nothing about MVAWG, they just like an excuse for a riot.

I wish people would realise that in any group of men be they lawyers, drs, binmen, retail workers, young, old, far right, far left there will be a percentage who commit DV. I dont have the exact figures.

SpaceRaccoon · 31/07/2026 16:42

TopPocketFind · 31/07/2026 16:27

Are you blaming the housing crisis on asylum seekers?

Refugees and asylum seekers make up less than 1% of the population.

Applications this year are down by 19%

In Glasgow at least, asylum seekers are a major cause of people not being able to get social housing.
They declared themselves a sanctuary city so a lot of refugees head there once their asylum is approved, and because of that status, they get housed as priority.

But beyond that, legal migration in the numbers we've seen over the last few years has obviously had an impact on the housing shortage, and artificially inflating house prices.
Okay the worst of it in terms of raw numbers was the Boriswave, but we're still talking hundreds of thousands annually, on top of those who are already here.
And there are these random limited companies that are allowed to sponsor dozens of visas each, for things like taxi driver and kebab shop worker. And they all have to live somewhere.

SpaceRaccoon · 31/07/2026 16:42

StripyShirt · 31/07/2026 16:38

Cologne changed my attitude toward immigration overnight.

Same.

EmeraldShamrock000 · 31/07/2026 16:43

OneStarAwake · 31/07/2026 16:38

IIRC a good percentage of that angry mob were abusers. They care nothing about MVAWG, they just like an excuse for a riot.

Agreed. I wish they wouldn’t as it overshadows the crime, two recent’s incidents in Ireland, a 10 year old was sexually assaulted at an international protection hotel and a man was nearly beheaded, both of these incidents caused riots and once again the actual crime is out of the media and the riots are highlighted.
Then there is Jamey Carey a left wing lady who fell in love with a new arrival, she was found last month with her head caved in by her teenage daughter, people where cruel over the circumstances surrounding her death.

OneStarAwake · 31/07/2026 16:46

mrshoho · 31/07/2026 16:41

I wish people would realise that in any group of men be they lawyers, drs, binmen, retail workers, young, old, far right, far left there will be a percentage who commit DV. I dont have the exact figures.

20% of those arrested during the Southport riots.

TonTonMacoute · 31/07/2026 16:46

A lot of blame should be laid at the door of the complete ineffectiveness of the UN.
Wars are allied to drag on with no intervention or mediation, appalling governments are allowed to plunder and impoverish their countries with impunity.

Destination countries should be supported by international law with enabling deportations and repatriations, with asylum appeals begin granted on the thinnest of grounds.

Unfortunately nations which benefit from this chaos are now too powerful on the UN. The EU should also be making a better joint effort instead of leaving the border countries to just fend for themselves.

TopPocketFind · 31/07/2026 16:48

SpaceRaccoon · 31/07/2026 16:42

In Glasgow at least, asylum seekers are a major cause of people not being able to get social housing.
They declared themselves a sanctuary city so a lot of refugees head there once their asylum is approved, and because of that status, they get housed as priority.

But beyond that, legal migration in the numbers we've seen over the last few years has obviously had an impact on the housing shortage, and artificially inflating house prices.
Okay the worst of it in terms of raw numbers was the Boriswave, but we're still talking hundreds of thousands annually, on top of those who are already here.
And there are these random limited companies that are allowed to sponsor dozens of visas each, for things like taxi driver and kebab shop worker. And they all have to live somewhere.

Edited

They are not the major cause, just one of the many causes.

https://www.paih.org/Glasgows-Housing-Emergency-Not-Caused-by-Refugees

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly0g184l9ro

suburburban · 31/07/2026 16:52

SpaceRaccoon · 31/07/2026 16:42

In Glasgow at least, asylum seekers are a major cause of people not being able to get social housing.
They declared themselves a sanctuary city so a lot of refugees head there once their asylum is approved, and because of that status, they get housed as priority.

But beyond that, legal migration in the numbers we've seen over the last few years has obviously had an impact on the housing shortage, and artificially inflating house prices.
Okay the worst of it in terms of raw numbers was the Boriswave, but we're still talking hundreds of thousands annually, on top of those who are already here.
And there are these random limited companies that are allowed to sponsor dozens of visas each, for things like taxi driver and kebab shop worker. And they all have to live somewhere.

Edited

Yes the skilled worker nonsense to work in a chicken shop or vape shop so plenty coming to UK using this method

SpaceRaccoon · 31/07/2026 16:55

TopPocketFind · 31/07/2026 16:48

"Positive Action in Housing is a Glasgow-based, Scotland-wide, independent, Black & Minority Ethnic led, antiracist homelessness and human rights charity (Scottish charity reg SCO27577) dedicated to supporting people from refugee and immigrant communities in rebuilding their lives."

Sounds like a super unbiased source.

Violetdeparma · 31/07/2026 16:56

@TonTonMacoute agree like they watched Putin build up on Ukraine border. These large organisations are useless .

Whammyammy · 31/07/2026 17:02

StripyShirt · 31/07/2026 16:38

Cologne changed my attitude toward immigration overnight.

Same. 1200+ sexual assaults on women. Yes they were assaulted by men, but all migrant men.

SevenYellowHammers · 31/07/2026 17:02

MaturingCheeseball · 30/07/2026 17:34

Thousands of young men from Morocco and beyond swimming to Spain. Spain obviously has encouraged the problem with their amnesty for existing migrants, but thousands more arriving with no means of support and undocumented is going to cause huge problems. Large numbers will no doubt be ultimately trying to reach the UK.

It’s harsh, but we cannot accept infinite numbers of men.

How else would Spain get workers for the canvas peach and tomato greenhouses? It needs to be people not unionised and that won’t be missed. Who else will work in such unbearable conditions so that tourists can enjoy the local cuisine?

MaturingCheeseball · 31/07/2026 17:05

SevenYellowHammers · 31/07/2026 17:02

How else would Spain get workers for the canvas peach and tomato greenhouses? It needs to be people not unionised and that won’t be missed. Who else will work in such unbearable conditions so that tourists can enjoy the local cuisine?

Do they need 50,000 people to pick peaches?

OP posts:
localnotail · 31/07/2026 17:07

SevenYellowHammers · 31/07/2026 17:02

How else would Spain get workers for the canvas peach and tomato greenhouses? It needs to be people not unionised and that won’t be missed. Who else will work in such unbearable conditions so that tourists can enjoy the local cuisine?

So it's only tourists who eat peaches?

suburburban · 31/07/2026 17:09

SpaceRaccoon · 31/07/2026 16:55

"Positive Action in Housing is a Glasgow-based, Scotland-wide, independent, Black & Minority Ethnic led, antiracist homelessness and human rights charity (Scottish charity reg SCO27577) dedicated to supporting people from refugee and immigrant communities in rebuilding their lives."

Sounds like a super unbiased source.

How about them supporting the people who were actually born there as a priority for a change

SpaceRaccoon · 31/07/2026 17:09

SevenYellowHammers · 31/07/2026 17:02

How else would Spain get workers for the canvas peach and tomato greenhouses? It needs to be people not unionised and that won’t be missed. Who else will work in such unbearable conditions so that tourists can enjoy the local cuisine?

None of the locals eat local cuisine then, it's all the nasty tourists responsible for exploitation of migrant workers?

DontBuyAnotherBook · 31/07/2026 17:10

IcedCoffee26 · 31/07/2026 14:01

Sitting here in Spain, also not worried.

But then I don't consider a multi cultural society a destroyed one.

Most places aren't multi cultural because most areas including mine they keep themselves to themselves and don't mix. Perhaps unless people live in these types of areas might be best to be quiet as you don't have experience of living in these places.

nomas · 31/07/2026 17:12

MaturingCheeseball · 31/07/2026 10:13

left-wing people by and large are not dog people. In the mornings I often pass this stringy couple out jogging. They always wear virtue-signalling t-shirts: “I’m running to end world hunger” (!) , “Run Green” and other (always green) t-shirts with similar slogans. The woman theatrically glares and shies away from Dog. He’s not in the least interested in them and doesn’t like eating green things anyway…

I think the thread has jumped the shark with this comment.

Utterly ridiculous.

If people in t-shirts are being judged, then what hope do minorities have.

DontBuyAnotherBook · 31/07/2026 17:12

Please stop romantising these multi cultural areas.

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