US EditionSpain to regularize 500,000 undocumented migrants
- On Tuesday, Spain's left-wing government will approve a decree to regularise 500,000 undocumented migrants, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said.
- Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says Spain needs migration to fill workforce gaps and counteract an ageing population that could imperil pensions and the welfare state.
- Sources said the measure affects applicants who have lived in Spain at least five months and applied for international protection before December 31st 2025, with applications open April–end June and beneficiaries allowed work in any sector, Saiz said.
- The Socialist-led coalition will enact the decree by executive order without parliamentary approval, while irregular migrant arrivals to Spain fell by more than 40 percent in 2025 due to fewer Atlantic route flows to the Canary Islands.
- The move contrasts with far-right gains across the EU, as Saiz highlighted broad work rights for beneficiaries, stressing the measure's positive labour market impact in Spain.
135 Articles
135 Articles
Spain's Socialist Government Moves to Legalize Up to 500,000 Illegal Migrants in Sweeping Decree
Spain’s entrenched leftist political class is once again moving to normalize illegality, this time through an extraordinary mass regularization that could grant legal status to more than 500,000 illegal immigrants.
The process for regularisation started, a decision against the EU (ANSA)
Integration Into the Labour Market: Hundreds of Thousands of Illegal Migrants in Spain to Get Papers
The Spanish economy is booming. According to economists, this is also due to migrants. Now the period of illegality for many of them could soon end. The opposition announces opposition to the plans.
While other Western countries are pursuing an increasingly anti-migration course, Spain's government is taking a different path: it offers hundreds of thousands of migrants papers and wants to bring them quickly into the labour market.
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