Comedian and political commentator Bill Maher returned from his summer break on Friday for Real Time with Bill Maher, where he suggested California has more in common with Spain, highlighting parallels in natural disasters and migrant populations.
Maher started out by welcoming fans back to the show for the midsummer, and joked about U.S. immigration.
“Summer’s tricky now, ya know? You want to get a good tan, but not so good you get picked up by ICE,” Maher said.
“Speaking of that, you think we have immigration problems? Did you see what happened in Spain yesterday?”
Maher was referring to the migrant crisis in Spain, where an estimated 60,000 migrants from Morocco and other African countries have rushed to the Spanish port territory of Ceuta since Thursday.
Dozens died from the mass migration. Ceuta is likely seen as an easy entry point due to its more relaxed restrictions on the border and its close proximity to the Spanish mainland.
“At the same time, they’re [Spain] having horrible fires. Spain is the new California.”
Spain declared the wildfires a national emergency, and 200,000 people evacuated from the homes in the country as well as from France. Weather conditions made the fires hard to control.
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California also faced devastating wildfires in the Palisades during January 2025. Homes and communities wiped out by the fires have still not been rebuilt.
“The northern part is on fire, the southern part gets overrun by migrants, and everybody speaks Spanish. It’s the new California,” Maher said.