‘A very important step’: Spain's move to end legal limbo for migrants

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Spain’s decision to grant legal status to more than half a million undocumented migrants marks what rights advocates describe as a long-overdue response to years of informal employment, legal insecurity and social exclusion faced by people already living in the country.

For the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid, CEAR, the measure is not only significant for migrants but for Spanish society as a whole.

“This is a very important step,” Elena Munoz, CEAR’s national legal coordinator, told Anadolu. “This is a demand that, as a society, we have been making since 2020 with COVID and the pandemic, when the extremely vulnerable situation of thousands of people who did not have residence and work authorization was laid bare and the need to regularize this situation became evident.”

According to CEAR, the decision represents a major citizen-driven victory.

In a public statement, the organization said thousands of people helped push the issue into public debate through a Popular Legislative Initiative promoted by migrant movements themselves and supported by social organizations. More than 700,000 people signed in favor of the initiative, which sought the regularization of undocumented migrants living in Spain.

Although the initiative was formally submitted to the Spanish Congress in April 2024, it failed to advance through the parliamentary process. CEAR said the proposal remained stalled amid political deadlock, but the scale of public support proved decisive.

Ultimately, the government approved the substance of the proposal through a royal decree, bypassing the legislative route but responding, CEAR argued, to a broad social and political consensus.

Munoz emphasized that the origins of the policy matter.

"This process that began in 2020 was led, and this is the most important thing, by the migrants themselves, the associations of migrants themselves," she said. "They came together in a platform and pushed forward this demand for a regularization procedure, which was later joined by the rest of social organizations and more than 700,000 individuals who signed in favor."

- Opposition warns risk of 'pull factor'

At the same time, the government’s move has triggered fierce political backlash.

Opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, the Popular Party’s national head, accused Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of using the regularization to divert attention from other crises.

“Up to 46 dead. Hundreds injured. No resignations,” Feijoo said on the US social media platform X, referring to a high-speed train crash that killed 46 people in January. “And Sanchez’s first response is a massive regularization to divert attention, increase the pull factor, and overwhelm our public services.”

"In socialist Spain, illegality is rewarded. Sanchez's immigration policy is as absurd as his railway policy," he argued.

Far-right leader Santiago Abascal used even stronger language, portraying the decision as a deliberate effort to encourage irregular migration.

"500,000 illegals!" Abascal said. "The tyrant Sanchez hates the Spanish people. He wants to replace them. That is why he intends to promote the pull factor by decree, to accelerate the invasion."

He stressed that this decision "must be stopped," adding "Repatriations, deportations, and remigration."

According to a recent poll conducted by Sigma Dos for conservative Spanish daily El Mundo, the Spanish public is largely split on the policy.

The poll found that 18.6% said they “totally agreed,” 26% said they “mostly agreed,” 27.8% said they “didn’t really agree,” and 27% said they “didn’t agree at all” with the regularization.

The largest portion, 44%, also said they believe the main driving factor behind the regularization is Sanchez’s political calculation, according to the poll.

Both opposition leaders have alluded to or directly said that the migrants would vote for left-wing parties in government. However, only Spanish citizens can vote in national and regional elections, and migrants who apply for status through this process will not automatically receive citizenship.

- Policy details limit applicants

Munoz rejected the pull-factor argument, saying it does not exist.

"All the scientific and empirical evidence analyzing the effects of other regularizations, both in Spain and in other countries, shows that there is no pull factor,” she said.

She also pointed to the strict limits built into the policy, which restrict eligibility to people who arrived before a clearly defined cutoff date.

"There is a very clear deadline, which is for people who arrived before Dec. 31, 2025," she said. "Anyone who arrives now will not be able to benefit from this regularization, and if a regularization has just taken place, there is no expectation that another one will happen."

She noted that the previous regularization in Spain took place 21 years ago.

CEAR echoed this position in its statement, noting that previous regularizations in Spain did not lead to significant increases in irregular arrivals. This will be the seventh such process since 1986.

Instead, the organization said, such measures helped combat labor exploitation and strengthen social cohesion by giving legal certainty to people already living and contributing in Spain. This, CEAR added, can translate into better labor inclusion, higher tax revenue, and a reduction in the underground economy.

According to Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, around 70% of those eligible for this regularization are from South America, while 17% are from Central America and the Caribbean. Around 5% are from Africa, with the remaining 7% coming from Europe, Asia and Oceania.

The Spanish government has said the process is expected to open in April and run through June.

Applicants will need to show they have no criminal record and can prove at least five months of prior residence in Spain, or that they applied for asylum before the cutoff date. Successful applicants will receive a one-year residence and work permit valid nationwide and across sectors.

- Decision makes undocumented migrants 'visible in society'

For migrants themselves, Munoz said the impact of obtaining legal status is immediate, particularly in employment.

"First of all, and most importantly, they acquire a whole series of rights and become visible in society," she said. "They will be able to work legally and will not be forced into the underground economy."

Legal status, she said, also reduces administrative barriers in areas such as health care and housing, where undocumented migrants often struggle to meet informal requirements despite having rights on paper.

At the same time, CEAR and Munoz cautioned that the measure remains “extraordinary” and does not resolve the structural causes that repeatedly generate large numbers of people living in irregular situations.

Estimates suggest that between 500,000 and 800,000 people in Spain currently lack legal status.

She also warned that asylum seekers whose applications are rejected risk being left behind, facing years in irregularity before qualifying for residence. People who arrive now and apply for international protection are excluded from the extraordinary regularization and must wait for their asylum procedures to conclude, she said.

"If their application is rejected, which in Spain happens in a very high percentage of cases, they will have to wait another two years in an irregular situation before they can obtain a residence permit," Munoz said. "It makes little sense to force people who are fully integrated to go through a two-year ordeal in an irregular situation in order to regain their legal status."

According to CEAR, only 11% of asylum requests in Spain were granted in 2025.

"We continue to advocate for ordinary and permanent regularization channels so that this pool of people in irregular situations is not generated again," Munoz said.

Even so, the organization sees the regularization as both a practical and symbolic milestone, recognizing rights, improving coexistence and demonstrating that sustained public pressure, led by migrants themselves, can shape national policy.