Inside a cavernous production plant in Spain, people from 62 nationalities work side by side to keep a food company humming as millions of legs of ham travel on hooks along conveyor belts.Foreign workers have helped to make Spains economy the envy of the industrialized world, even as anti-immigration sentiments grow elsewhere in Europe and in the United States.Bonrea would not be possible if it werent for the people from other countries who have come here to work. We should be eternally grateful to them, the companys head of human resources, Xavier Moreno, told the Associated Press during a recent visit.Tapping into foreign labor helped Spains economy grow by about 3% last year, smashing the eurozone average of 0.8%, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.That also beat the U.S. growth rate of 2.8%, according to OECD projected figures, where President Donald Trump has pledged to close borders anddeport immigrantswho are in the country illegally.Spains ministry for social security and migration says 45% of all jobs created since 2022 have been filled by around half a million new foreign-born workers. Nearly 3 million foreigners now represent 13% of the countrys workforce.We had two ways to deal with the challenge, the minister, Elma Saiz, told the AP. That Spain be a closed and poor country or an open and prosperous one.Pedro Aznar, professor of economics with the Esade Business School in Barcelona, said the influx of foreign workers has helped Spain fare far better than Germany, the traditional motor of Europes economy, whosemanufacturing industry is in crisis.Spain is driven by services, in particular itsbuoyant tourism sector. Foreigners do typically lower-wage jobs that many Spaniards dont want. And while Spain takes in fewer asylum-seekers than other European countries, its in the rare position to attract millions of economic migrants from Latin America who swiftly incorporate into Spains job market and social fabric thanks to the common language.Practically all of Spains population growth since the COVID-19 pandemic is due to immigration, with 1.1 million people arriving in 2022, according to the Bank of Spain. It credits the newcomers with sustaining the aging countrys social security systema challenge common in other European nations.The bank said 85% of the 433,000 people who found a job last year between January and September were foreign-born.Bucking the anti-migration trendAcross Europe, the rise of anti-migrant sentiment has spurred far-right political parties. Spain also has seen the rise of anti-migration political forces that focus on unauthorized migration from Africa and Islamic countries, but they havent been able to impose their narrative as deeply.Mohamed Es-Saile, 38, arrived from Morocco illegally when he was 16, crossing into Spains north African exclave of Ceuta. He now works legally as an electrician and repairman at bonrea.I dont feel any hate toward migrants here, Es-Saile said. From my point of view, a person (from abroad) can adapt to situations in a new country, even sometimes better than people from that country.Latin Americans have made up the bulk of immigrants who arrived legally. According to the most recent census, more than 4 million Latin American immigrants were living in Spain legally in 2023.Vctor Razuri was brought over by bonrea from Peru last year as a mechanic and electrician. The 41-year-old said he has had little problem adapting.In Peru, you dont see many people from other parts of the world. When I got here, I was working with people from Ukraine, from Morocco, and with a few other people from Latin America, he said. It was a little tough at first, but I think I have adapted.To help integrate newcomers, bonrea offers classes in Spanish and Catalan, help with work permits, and finding homes and schools. Representatives of workers from different countries meet regularly to discuss issues related to cultural differences.Our future prosperitySocialistPrime Minister Pedro Snchezhas defended legal migration, drawing attention to its economic benefits. Spain added an estimated 458,000 authorized immigrants last year, according to the National Statistics Institute.While 31% come from other EU countries, leading countries of origin also include Morocco, Colombia, Venezuela, China, Peru, and Ukraine.New arrivals often take service jobs, construction, farming, fishing, and home care and cleaning.Welcoming those who come here looking for a better life is not just an obligation, it is also an essential step to guaranteeing our future prosperity, Snchez told Parliament in October.An aging Spain requires workersSocial changes in Spain have opened the job market for newcomers without creating dramatic social tensions, despite chronic high unemployment at 10.6%.The Bank of Spain estimates that an aging Spain will need 30 million working-age immigrants over the next 30 years to sustain the balance between workers and retirees-plus-children.In Barcelona, caf owner Jordi Ortiz said there is no way he could keep his business going without his staff of mostly Latin Americans.It is basically 80% of people from abroad, 20% from here, Ortiz said. Spaniards just dont want to work in the service sector.Emily Soto, originally from the Dominican Republic, serves tables at the cafe. She and her family emigrated in 1998. Since then, things have changed.When I got here there was nobody else from my country, I mean we could count them on our fingers, Soto said. But now they just keep coming.Contractor Vctor Lisbona in Barcelona said fellow Spaniards no longer follow in their parents footsteps, and estimates that around 80% of the carpenters, electricians, and construction professionals he has worked with are foreigners.Young Spaniards dont want to do the hard jobs, the construction work, driving trucks, carpentry. They want to study to be lawyers, doctors, Lisbona said.New work permits for migrantsSpain has struggled with unauthorized migration across the Mediterranean Sea and has backedEuropean Union deals with Moroccoto try to stem flows. Meanwhile, the stream of migrant boats journeying from Africas west coast to Spains Canary Islands has created a humanitarian crisis. Countless die in the attempt.Sncheztoured Mauritania, Senegal, and Gambialast year to promote a temporary work scheme whereby African workers could get legal and safe passage to Spain. Results have yet to be seen.The government also aims to bring unauthorized migrants already in Spain into the system.In November, Snchezs left-wing coalition announcedit would provide work permits and papersto some 900,000 foreigners already in the country illegally over the coming three years, with hopes they will work and pay taxes.Bonrea will be waiting to give them jobs, Moreno with human resources said, with some 700 posts likely available.By Joseph Wilson and Suman Naishadham, Associated Press