The Spanish come up behind the Romanians and Bulgarians when it comes to inept benefit fraud in Belgium – or at least, they’re the third most expelled nationality there.
According to the mayo eaters, 2,712 Europeans lost their Belgian residency permits last year for benefit fraud, of which the Spanish accounted for 323.
The Belgians have a hardline attitude towards EU immigrants. You can lose your residency rights for working without a contract, or being a foreign student who is working without a permit. Or for claiming rights you aren’t entitled to. Or for being there with no visible means of support. In short, for “being a burden on the Belgian state” after three months there without being useful.
In all, the numbers expelled were: 816 Romanians, 393 Bulgarians, 323 Spanish, 305 Dutch, 265 Italians, and 176 French.
Come on Spain, we can beat the Bulgarians in 2014!