Spain’s government has approved the start of procedures to regularise undocumented migrants already living in the country, a move expected to benefit more than half a million people.
Calling it “a historic day”, Elma Saiz, Spain’s minister for migration, said on Tuesday the government was strengthening “a migration model based on human rights and compatible with economic growth.”
She said the Cabinet authorised the drafting of a royal decree that will allow migrants who arrived in Spain before December 31, 2025, and can prove at least five months of continuous residence, to obtain legal status, provided they have no criminal record.
"We are talking about estimations; probably more or less the figures may be around half a million people," she told public broadcaster RTVE.
Under reforms to Spain’s immigration regulations, migrants will be allowed to work from the first day their application is approved, Saiz said.
All asylum seekers who filed their claims before the end of the year will also be eligible.
Applications are expected to open in early April and remain available through June, she added.
The measure was agreed upon with the left-wing party Podemos.
Podemos leader Ione Belarra said the regularisation could benefit between 500,000 and 800,000 people.
“These are people who already live here but who are working without rights,” she said in a video posted on social media, describing the move as one of the biggest advances in labour rights in years.
‘Social justice’
Madrid’s decision comes as a growing number of EU countries pursue stricter measures against irregular migrants.
Spain has been the fastest-growing major economy in the eurozone over the past two years.
Economic data released Tuesday showed Spain’s unemployment rate fell below 10 percent for the first time in 17 years.
The Spanish Catholic Church was among the organisations praising the move, commending "an act of social justice and recognition".
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says Spain needs migration to fill workforce gaps and counteract an ageing population that could imperil pensions and the welfare state.
Sanchez has said migration accounted for 80 per cent of Spain's economic growth over the last six years.
Around 840,000 undocumented migrants lived in Spain at the beginning of January 2025, most of them Latin American, according to the Funcas think-tank.
