Bill Maher: Spain Becoming ‘New California’ Due to Spanish

Bill Maher kicked off the latest episode of Real Time with Bill Maher following his summer hiatus by highlighting uncomfortable parallels between the Golden State and the European nation, according to Britta Miller writing in Washington Examiner.

The host opened with a pointed quip about American immigration enforcement, joking that summer tanning carries risks in the current climate. He then pivoted to Spain’s escalating migrant crisis, where approximately 60,000 migrants primarily from Morocco and other African nations have flooded into the Spanish port territory of Ceuta since Thursday.

The rush to Ceuta has proven deadly, with dozens perishing in the mass movement. The territory is viewed as a soft entry point due to relatively lax border enforcement and its strategic proximity to mainland Spain.

Maher noted that Spain is simultaneously battling catastrophic wildfires that have forced the government to declare a national emergency. Roughly 200,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes across Spain and neighboring France as weather conditions have hampered containment efforts.

The comparison to California was impossible to ignore. The state endured destructive wildfires in the Palisades area during January 2025, with entire neighborhoods reduced to ash. Reconstruction efforts have yet to materialize in many affected communities.

Maher summed up the comparison with characteristic bluntness: The northern part is on fire, the southern part gets overrun by migrants, and everybody speaks Spanish. It’s the new California.

The remarks underscore growing concerns about border security and emergency preparedness in both regions, issues that continue to dominate political discourse on both sides of the Atlantic.

With information from Washington Examiner