Spain Officially Launches Mass Regularization for 500,000 Migrants

Marrakech – Spain’s government has officially approved the sweeping regularization decree that has been the subject of intense debate in political and media circles for months, opening a path to legal status for an estimated 500,000 undocumented migrants living and working in the country.

The cabinet decision, rubber-stamped during a meeting in Madrid, makes Spain one of the few European countries moving to expand migrant rights at a time when most of the continent is tightening its borders.

Moroccans form one of the largest foreign-born communities in Spain, according to Foreign Policy, alongside Colombians and Venezuelans.

Think tank Funcas estimates that roughly 840,000 undocumented migrants currently live in the country, with the largest irregular groups coming from Colombia, Honduras, and Peru. Spain’s total foreign-born population now stands at around 10 million out of approximately 50 million inhabitants.

Immigration Minister Elma Saiz called the decree “a major milestone” and said it carries “threefold legitimacy: social, political, and economic.” She told Cadena SER radio that online applications will open on Thursday, April 16. In-person appointments begin on Monday, April 20. The deadline for submissions runs through the end of June.

To qualify, applicants must be of legal age. They must have entered Spain before January 1, 2026. They must also prove five consecutive months of residence at the time of application and hold no criminal records. First-degree relatives, spouses, or registered partners living in the same household can have their applications processed simultaneously.

The government expects some 750,000 requests. A leaked report from Spain’s National Center for Immigration and Borders, cited by Foreign Policy, suggests as many as 1.1 million people could apply.

Immigration officers warn the system is not ready

The rollout faces immediate logistical resistance. Immigration officers across the country have threatened to strike starting April 21, one day after in-person appointments open.

“The government is once again implementing a new regularization without giving offices enough economic resources to handle it,” Cesar Perez, a union leader for Spain’s immigration officers, told Reuters.

To manage the volume, only five of Spain’s 54 immigration offices will process regularization applications. The rest will be distributed among social security offices, post offices, and NGOs, according to union CCOO.

The final text of the decree tightens criminal record requirements, following recommendations from the State Council. Applicants will have one month to obtain certificates from their countries of origin. If they fail to do so, Spanish authorities will request the documents through diplomatic channels, according to El País.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, currently on an official visit to China, defended the program in a letter to citizens published on X. “Spain is aging,” he wrote. “Without more people working and contributing to the economy, our prosperity slows, and our public services suffer.”

He framed the move as a continuation of Spain’s democratic tradition. “This is a regularization process like those we have already seen throughout the more than 40 years of democracy in our country, including under Popular Party governments,” he said at a press conference in Beijing, according to AFP.

Opposition calls the measure reckless and vows court appeal

The opposition Popular Party voted 310-33 in favor of considering the proposal in Congress in 2024. It has since reversed course.

PP Deputy Secretary Alma Ezcurra told national radio the decision “is bad for those who have followed the law” and warned the government does not know how many people will take advantage of it. Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso has threatened a court appeal.

PP lawmaker Cuca Gamarra argued that “it makes no sense to regularize hundreds of thousands of people without knowing if they’re working,” warning of a potential “pull effect” harmful to the EU.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal accused Sánchez of “accelerating an invasion.” Party spokeswoman Pepa Millán pledged a Supreme Court challenge.

The scheme also drew attention from Elon Musk, who reposted a claim on X calling the plan “electoral engineering.” Sánchez responded directly: “Mars can wait. Humanity can’t.”

Spain bucks Europe’s hardline migration trend

While much of Europe lurches toward far-right nationalist governance, tightening borders, fast-tracking deportations, and outsourcing asylum-seekers to third-country return hubs, Spain’s socialist-led coalition has defied the continent’s hardline consensus and moved in the starkly opposite direction.

The European Commission urged Madrid in January to consider “potential migratory and security implications” for the bloc. Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and Denmark have all pursued stricter deportation policies or third-country return hubs.

Yet some of those same countries have quietly carried out their own regularizations. Germany legalized up to 137,000 people between 2022 and 2025. Italy launched a regularization scheme in 2020 that received 220,000 requests, many still pending.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also set quotas regularizing nearly one million foreign workers across two three-year cycles, according to Foreign Policy.

Supporters of Spain’s program say it simply acknowledges reality. “Living without papers is like being in an invisible prison,” said Silvana Cabrera, spokesperson for Regularización Ya, a grassroots movement that gathered over 600,000 signatures for the citizen initiative behind the decree.

Spain’s economy grew 2.8% last year, more than double the eurozone average. Unemployment fell below 10% for the first time since 2008. But roughly 90% of new jobs have gone to immigrants, and per capita income has barely grown.

A housing shortage, with 140,000 new households formed annually against only 80,000 new homes built, remains a central voter grievance.

Read also: Spain Makes a Big Move While Europe Hesitates on Migration

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