Spain to grant legal status to thousands of aliens
The Spanish government has announced that it will grant legal status to potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants living and working in the country without permission; It’s the latest example of how the country is bucking the trend toward increasingly harsh immigration policies seen in the United States and much of Europe.
Spanish Minister of Immigration Elma Saiz announced the extraordinary measure after the weekly cabinet meeting. He said his government would amend existing immigration laws with an expedited decree to grant legal residence and work permits for up to one year to immigrants living in Spain without permission.
The permits will be valid for those who arrived in Spain before 31 December 2025 and can prove that they have been living in Spain for at least five months. They also need to prove they have no criminal record.
“Today is a historic day,” Saiz told reporters at the press conference. This measure could benefit between 500,000 and 800,000 people, estimated by different organizations to live in the shadow of Spanish society.
Many are Latin American or African immigrants working in the agriculture, tourism or service sectors that are the backbone of Spain’s growing economy.
The fast-track decree bypasses a similar bill pending in parliament. Saiz said he expects that with the decree coming into force, immigrants will be able to apply for their legal status from April.
The Spanish government’s move came as a surprise to many, following a last-minute deal between the ruling Socialist Party and the left-wing Podemos party in exchange for parliamentary support for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s shaky government.
The news was welcomed by hundreds of immigrant rights groups and prominent Catholic associations, which campaigned and collected 700,000 signatures for a similar initiative that is being considered for debate in Congress in 2024 but is unlikely to receive enough votes to pass.
While other countries, many encouraged by the Trump administration, have moved to restrict immigration and asylum around the world, Spain has gone in the opposite direction, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his ministers frequently touting the benefits of immigration to the economy.
The Iberian country has welcomed millions of people from South America and Africa in recent years, the vast majority of whom entered the country legally.
