Latest information on Spanish.
madrid, spain
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Spain has announced it will grant legal status to 500,000 undocumented immigrants, in a move that goes against the tide of anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies in the United States and much of Europe.
The move, announced on Tuesday, aims to reduce labor exploitation in Spain’s underground economy. The country’s central bank and the United Nations have previously said Spain needs around 300,000 migrant workers a year to maintain its welfare state.
“Today is a historic day for our country,” Spanish Immigration Minister Elma Sais told a news conference. “We are strengthening a migration model based on human rights, integration, coexistence and compatibility between economic growth and social cohesion.”
Saiz said the new measures were “necessary to respond to the realities that exist on our streets” and would benefit the country’s economy.
The president’s office said the measure would allow migrants to live a “dignified” life.
Foreign nationals who arrive in the country by December 31, 2025 and can prove they have resided in the country for at least five months will be granted legal residence rights for up to one year and work permits valid in all sectors and throughout the country. They must prove they have no criminal record.
The application period is from early April to June 30, 2026.
Spain has far more illegal immigrants than this new policy will help. Funcas, an analysis center affiliated with banking association CECA, estimates that there were 840,000 illegal immigrants in the country as of early 2025.
Most of them (about 760,000 people) are from Latin America, Funcas said. Approximately 290,000 people are from Colombia, 110,000 from Peru, and 90,000 from Honduras.
According to Funcas, the number of illegal immigrants in Spain has increased eightfold since 2017.
Tuesday’s announcement builds on measures that went into effect last May, aimed at simplifying and speeding up the legalization process. The Spanish government said the policy could help 900,000 illegal immigrants gain legal status over the next three years.
Spain has approved large-scale pathways to legal status for illegal immigrants at least six times since the 1980s.
Under Felipe González’s socialist government, more than 38,000 people obtained legal status in 1986. From 1991 to 1992, also under President González, more than 114,000 people were provided legal residency.
Under Jose María Aznar’s administration, more than 524,000 people were issued documents in 1996, 2000, and 2001. The last major grant of legal status took place almost 21 years ago under the government of Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, when more than 576,000 applications were processed.
The move by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government comes after US President Donald Trump stepped up his criticism of Europe’s “politically correct” immigration policies. At the United Nations General Assembly in September, President Trump said Europe was in “deep trouble” and “being invaded by armies of illegal aliens.”
And just days ago, President Trump said at Davos that certain parts of Europe had become “unrecognizable” and “not moving in the right direction.”
Many European countries have hardline policies against migrants, similar to Italy’s controversial practice of sending asylum seekers rescued at sea to deportation centres. Spain remains an outlier in Europe, where immigration is seen as a way to boost the country’s economy.
