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Leading up to the March general election, PP leader Mariano Rajoy promised his party will oblige immigrants to ‘learn Spanish and respect Spanish customs’ if he is the next PM. Sr Rajoy said immigrants would have to sign ‘an integration contract’ whereby the person promises to ‘abide by the law, respect customs, learn the language and pay taxes like everyone else’. Immigrants will have to ‘actively work in order to integrate’ and ‘return to their home countries if they do not find a job’. On the other hand, the State would guarantee those who fulfil the contract ‘the same rights’ as Spanish nationals, employment formation and help to return to their countries if they cannot find a job. No mention was made of EU citizens, however, due to the freedom of movement established by the Schengen agreement, such policies could not applied to citizens of member states without breaking EU legislation. The electoral promise was made by Sr Rajoy during a political party meeting in Barcelona on Wednesday evening.
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