Spain is preparing a major legalization of undocumented migrants, which will affect more than 500,000 people. The government stresses their critical importance to the country's economy.
Foreign news agencies reported on 27 Jan 2026 that the Spanish government announced plans to regularize undocumented migrants who have no criminal record and can prove they have lived in Spain for at least five months before 31 December 2025. It is estimated that about 500,000 people qualify.
“This is a historic day for our country,” said Elma Saiz, Spain’s Minister of Cohesion, Social Security, and Migration. “We are strengthening a migration model based on human rights, integration, coexistence, and one compatible with economic growth and social harmony.”
This measure will initially grant successful applicants a one-year residence permit, which can be extended later. The government expects to open the application process in April and keep it open until the end of June.
Spain has recently faced a crisis of large migrant inflows, mostly from Latin America.
Funcas, a conservative research group, found that Spain’s undocumented migrant population surged from 107,409 in 2017 to 837,938 in 2025, an eightfold increase. The largest groups currently living undocumented in Spain are believed to come from Colombia, Peru, and Honduras.
The coalition government led by Spain’s Socialist Party takes a different stance on this issue compared to other major European powers, choosing to emphasize migrants’ importance to the economic system.
In recent years, Spain’s economy has outperformed many other major EU economies, with growth in 2025 expected to approach 3%. Newly released figures on Tuesday showed unemployment, a chronic economic weakness, has fallen below 10% for the first time since 2008.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described migrants as representatives of Spain’s “wealth, development, and prosperity,” highlighting their contributions through social security payments.
This measure will be approved by Royal Decree, meaning it does not require parliamentary approval.
This is Spain’s first major migrant status regularization in two decades. Previously, both the Socialist Party and the conservative People’s Party (PP) governments legalized around 500,000 migrants between 1986 and 2005.
However, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, current leader of the PP, said this latest mass legalization could increase pull factors, leading to more arrivals and overburdening Spain’s public services.
Follow international news:https://www.thairath.co.th/news/foreign
Source:bbc