Spanish police hailed their arrest of 57 people as the quashing of a major nationwide crime circuit dealing in the illegal immigration of Chinese nationals, according to a statement issued on Saturday.
The authorities believe that Chinese nationals living illegally in Barcelona were given falsified contracts as domestic workers in order to obtain residence permits.
The contracts were for work in Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands.
"They would return to Barcelona (pictured) once they obtained a residency permit and then work in the textile sector, without ever doing the job for which they were," the statement read.
Officials believe the illegal migrants each had to pay the ring about €8,000.
The putative employers, often hotels in Lanzarote, are believed to have been given by the crime ring around €1,500 or €2,000 for each ‘contract’ provided to a Chinese citizen.
A police spokeswoman said the ring was “very important” but could not say how many Chinese had already obtained residence permits through the gang’s illicit scheme.
The arrests, including a Chinese couple alleged to be the ringleaders, took place in Barcelona, Valencia, San Sebastian and Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.
With some 200,000 Chinese nationals living legally in Spain, the Chinese immigrant population forms the fourth largest foreign community in the country, according to Spain’s statistics institute. The vast majority of foreigners are from Latin America, followed by Morocco and expats from EU countries.
