> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://barna.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Rufián pushes ERC's immigration policy shift - URL: https://barna.news/rufian-pushes-erc-s-immigration-policy/ - Published: 2026-09-16T11:37:13.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-16T11:37:13.000Z - Description: ERC's spokesperson in the Spanish Congress has framed managed migration, integration and public-service capacity as central issues ahead of Catalonia's municipal elections in May 2027. - Author: Laia Serra - Tags: politics Gabriel Rufián, ERC's spokesperson in the Spanish Congress. Photograph: Eduardo Parra/Europa Press. Gabriel Rufián, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya's (ERC) spokesperson in the Spanish Congress, has sharpened the party's language on immigration, calling for "order, inclusion and integration, rights and obligations", according to reporting published by *El Món* on Tuesday 15 September. The shift matters locally because ERC is linking migration policy to pressure on housing, schools, healthcare, public transport and security. For residents, parents and commuters, those services are likely to feature more prominently in local political debate before the municipal elections due in May 2027. Rufián set out the position during a congressional debate on 3 September concerning the Ceuta crisis. He argued that migration cannot be stopped at borders and should instead be managed through organised entry routes, integration and shared obligations. > "Whoever does it pays for it, whether your name is Antonio, Dimitri or Hassan." The phrase formed part of Rufián's argument that public safety rules should apply equally, regardless of a person's origin, *El Món* reported. --- ## ERC ties population growth to strained local services ERC president Oriol Junqueras has previously argued that Catalonia does not currently have the conditions to accommodate substantially more residents, citing the housing market, public transport, education and healthcare networks, road congestion, energy supplies and water availability after recent droughts. In its 15 September report, *El Món* said ERC leaders see the revised language as a way to address concerns that other parties have connected with immigration and security, while rejecting both the criminalisation of migrants and what the party calls denial of the practical pressures involved. - Housing affordability and rising prices. - Capacity in healthcare, education and public transport. - Security, with equal legal responsibilities regardless of origin. Elisenda Alamany, ERC's general secretary, has described the party's approach as one of demographic management and maintaining an inclusive Catalan identity. Rufián's intervention makes that message more direct and seeks to distinguish ERC from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), according to the report. --- ## Municipal candidates prepare for the May 2027 campaign The debate is already reaching ERC's local organisation through the Llavors project, a series of discussions with local party branches on concerns including language and identity. The party is preparing candidates for municipalities where Aliança Catalana and Vox have built support around immigration. In Vic, ERC mayoral candidate Joan Ballana has made security a central theme. He previously held the council's security brief and now helps train ERC mayors and lead candidates, *El Món* reported. --- *Reported by elmon.cat.* --- ### Related on Barna.News - [Poll projects Aliança Catalana as second force](https://barna.news/poll-projects-alianca-catalana-as/) - [Spain Ties Catalan Language Bid to EU Enlargement](https://barna.news/spain-ties-catalan-language-bid-to-eu/) - [Illa: 'No one is more Catalan than anyone else'](https://barna.news/illa-no-one-is-more-catalan-than-anyone/) - [Aliança rises as second force in Catalonia](https://barna.news/alianca-rises-as-second-force-in/)