Major EU country responds to migrant crisis | World | News

The government has announced that Spain will grant legal residence status to approximately 500,000 undocumented immigrants through an extraordinary regulatory process. According to the official statement, the measure, which will be approved by royal decree by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, January 27, aims to “guarantee rights and provide legal certainty to the current social reality.”

Beneficiaries must have entered Spain before December 31, 2025, have no criminal record, and be able to prove continuous residence in the country for at least five months. This policy comes amid Spain’s strong economic performance and demographic pressures. With a population of approximately 50 million, Spain is the fastest growing major economy in Europe.

The Bank of Spain predicts GDP growth of 2.2 percent in 2026; This rate is 1.2 percent for the entire Eurozone. Officials attribute some of this growth to stronger private consumption and population growth.

Data from the government shows that since the pandemic, the number of foreign workers registered with the social security system, a measure of formal employment, has increased by 45% and now accounts for 14% of the total workforce.

Despite these gains, hundreds of thousands of workers remain in a disorganized administrative situation. In 2024, a citizens initiative garnered broad support in the Congress of Representatives, collecting more than 600,000 signatures in support of mass regulation.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s socialist administration has positioned itself as an outlier in Europe’s migration policy. While many countries have tightened entry rules and increased deportations, Spain has taken a more open approach, partly to address the challenges of one of the world’s oldest populations.

Earlier this month, Mr Sanchez said: “I will say this clearly. No one in Spain is expendable. On the contrary, we lack people. Faced with the choice between being a closed and poor nation, Spain is opening itself to the world to guarantee prosperity.”

The announcement follows an agreement between PSOE and Podemos that revives stalled elements of the 2024 initiative. By proceeding via royal decree, the government could quickly implement the measure, bypassing lengthy parliamentary debates.

Eligibility will require documentary evidence of residence such as municipal registration records, utility bills or other verifiable evidence. Successful applicants are expected to obtain a temporary residence permit followed by a one-year residence permit, which provides legal employment, access to public healthcare and social security registration. They can then proceed to standard migration routes.

Spain has a history of similar mass regulations, including one that benefited more than 570,000 people in 2005 under the previous socialist Government. Previous processes in the 1980s and 1990s also regularized large numbers.