On: Spain bucks European trend with mass amnesty of migrants

The Spanish government has discovered a new principle of political mechanics: that a vacuum, if large enough, may be filled by an act of pure will, and that the will of the state is superior to the arithmetic of its treasury. The amnesty is a splendid piece of political theater, designed not for the immigrants, who are merely the raw material, but for the domestic audience, which craves a spectacle of virtue. It is the moral equivalent of printing banknotes, a promise drawn on an account of future social cohesion that does not yet exist. The neighbors, tightening their borders with the grim diligence of accountants, look on aghast. They are correct in their alarm, but for the wrong reason. Their error is to believe Spain acts from compassion, or even from principle. It acts from necessity - the demographic necessity of an aging population, and the political necessity of a government requiring a new constituency. This is not generosity; it is a transfusion, using blood of an unknown type. The patient may revive, or the patient may reject it violently. Either outcome provides drama, and for the politician, drama is the only currency that never devalues. The whole affair is a magnificent gamble, with the chips being human lives and the winnings being another term in office. One must admire the sheer, brass-bound audacity of it. The rest of Europe fusses with its locks and ledgers; Spain has simply thrown open the doors and declared the house a hotel. We shall see who, in the end, presents the bill.