As many as 500,000 unauthorized immigrants in Spain will soon be able to apply for legal status and permission to work. The new regularization policy announced by the government last week marked the latest instance of Madrid’s tendency to adopt an approach to irregular immigration that is notably more welcoming than that of other European neighbors. “I believe that today is a great day for our country,” Minister of Migration Elma Saiz said. In offering legal status, the government is “dignifying and recognizing people who are already in our country.” The offer will be open to individuals who arrived before the new year, have proof of having lived in the country for at least five months, and do not have a criminal record. The application period will run from April to June, and those whose applications are approved will receive a one-year residence and work permit. The policy sprang from a deal struck by the ruling Socialist and leftist Podemos parties, and bypasses parliament. As such, it ignited furor from political opponents, including the far-right Vox party, which has seen its support edge upwards in polling. Yet the offer of legal status is far from unprecedented. A similar effort has been stalled in parliament since 2024. And the government has offered a chance at regularization multiple times in previous decades: Six wide-scale regularizations occurred in Spain from 1985 through 2005, resulting in the issuance of legal status to nearly 1.2 million people. Some observers claimed that those efforts backfired in subsequent years, when unemployment skyrocketed during the global financial crisis in 2008-09 and the government offered monetary incentives to encourage immigrants to leave. Spain’s economy is one of the fastest growing in Europe, and much of that growth can be attributed to immigration. Notably, a large share of unauthorized immigrants in Spain are from Latin America, meaning they already speak the language and share other similarities. At the same time, Spain has struggled with a housing crisis; limiting the offer of regularization to immigrants already residing in the country will likely limit exacerbation of housing shortages, yet past experience has shown that immigrants are often blamed for housing and other social challenges. Whatever the long-term outcome, Spain’s announcement stands in stark relief to the approach taken by other major immigrant-receiving countries in the West. While many governments have defaulted to increasing restrictions, Spain is perhaps the most visible exception. Best regards, Julian Hattem
Editor, Migration Information Source
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