Spain explains 'Directive of Shame' to Latin America | EU - European Information on Migration & Mobility

The Spanish government has launched an 'information crusade" to explain the merits of the recently adopted EU Directive on the return of illegal immigrants, which gained sorry publicity in Latin America after being labelled "The Shame Directive". Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero reacted to mounting criticism from Latin America, saying the main problem with the directive was the lack of communication. The next move was by Zapatero's deputy, María Teresa Fernández de la Vega, who announced an "information crusade" to explain the text to the governments and countries concerned with the virtues of the new EU directive. Spain insists that it will not change its immigration policy and will continue to apply less stringent measures than those under the directive. As an example, Spain would not detain an illegal immigrant for more than 40 days, although the directive's limit is 18 months.