Spain‘s left-wing government has approved a plan to grant legal status to around 500,000 undocumented migrants – a move that has sparked fury on the right – marking a sharp break with tougher policies elsewhere in Europe.
Migration Minister Elma Saiz said the beneficiaries would be allowed to work ‘in any sector, in any part of the country’, hailing what she described as the ‘positive impact’ of migration.
‘We are talking about estimations – probably more or less the figures may be around half a million people,’ Saiz told public broadcaster RTVE.
Speaking after Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, she said Spain was ‘strengthening a migration model based on human rights, integration and coexistence, compatible with economic growth and social cohesion.’
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has argued Spain needs migration to fill labour shortages and offset an ageing population that threatens pensions and the welfare state.
He has said migration accounted for 80 per cent of Spain’s economic growth over the past six years.
But the move sparked fury on the right. Santiago Abascal, leader of the hard-right Vox party, accused Sánchez of ‘hating Spaniards’ and ‘accelerating an invasion’ – rhetoric critics say echoes extremist conspiracy theories.
Under the plan, the measure will apply to migrants who have lived in Spain for at least five months and who applied for international protection before December 31, 2025.
Spain’s left-wing government has approved a plan to grant legal status to around 500,000 undocumented migrants – a move that has sparked fury on the right. Pictured: A boat carrying African migrants arrives on the Canary island of El Hierro
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (pictured) has argued Spain needs migration to fill labour shortages and offset an ageing population that threatens pensions and the welfare state
Santiago Abascal (pictured), leader of the hard-right Vox party, accused Sánchez of ‘hating Spaniards’ and ‘accelerating an invasion’ – rhetoric critics say echoes extremist conspiracy theories
Applicants must have a clean criminal record, and the regularisation will also extend to their children already living in the country.
The application window is expected to open in April and run until the end of June.
The scheme will be passed by decree, bypassing parliament, where Sánchez’s Socialist-led coalition lacks a majority.
The conservative opposition also condemned the move. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the Popular Party, said the ‘ludicrous’ plan would ‘overwhelm public services.’
‘In Socialist Spain, illegality is rewarded,’ he wrote on X, pledging to overhaul migration policy if he takes power.
The Spanish Catholic Church was among groups welcoming the decision, praising it as ‘an act of social justice and recognition’.
Official figures released Tuesday showed that 52,500 of the 76,200 people added to employment rolls in the final quarter of last year were foreigners – contributing to Spain’s lowest unemployment rate since 2008.
Spain’s approach contrasts with a broader European trend toward tighter migration controls amid rising support for far-right parties.
An estimated 840,000 undocumented migrants were living in Spain at the start of January 2025 – most from Latin America – according to the Funcas.
Spain remains one of Europe’s main gateways for irregular migration, with tens of thousands – mainly from sub-Saharan Africa – arriving in the Canary Islands.
Latest data from the National Statistics Institute shows more than seven million foreign nationals live in Spain out of a population of 49.4 million.