Historian Eric Hobsbawm argued that anti-migrant politics fills a void in European identity, defining groups by who is excluded. This resonates today as immigration dominates discourse across European capitals after tens of thousands crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain faces pressure over the surge, while leaders chastise Spain's generous policies and promise stricter borders.

Yet anxiety exceeds objective reality; migration has become a prism for broader discontent. Far-right figures like Geert Wilders blame foreigners for housing crises and debt, while Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition in Germany links newcomers to urban decay. Fact-checks noting immigration's ambiguous effects or Europe's need for workers miss the point: far-right support is strongest in areas with few migrants, such as Saxony-Anhalt, where Alternative for Germany won a landslide.

Migration serves as a heuristic for overlapping crises. External pressures deepen this dynamic. Hobsbawm foresaw in the 1990s that global inequality — Europe surrounded by poor, young populations — would drive politics for decades.

While global inequality fell technically, largely due to China, the living standards gap between the West and the rest remains vast, ensuring these tensions persist.