Spain’s socialist-led coalition government has approved a decree to regularise up to 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers, a move that runs counter to anti-migration policies across much of Europe. The decree, expected to take effect in April, applies to those who have been in Spain for at least five months or have sought international protection before 31 December 2025, and who have no criminal record.
Announcing the decision after Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, Migration Minister Elma Saiz called it a “historic day” and said the initiative was designed to “break the bureaucratic barriers of the past”. She added that the programme would reinforce a “migratory model based on human rights, on integration and on coexistence that’s compatible with both economic growth and social cohesion”.
The decree follows pressure from the left-wing Podemos party, whose leader, Ione Belarra, welcomed the deal on social media, stating: “No one else has to work without rights … Today and always, yes we can!” Spain has become a European outlier on migration; Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in October 2024 that the country needed migration to grow its economy and sustain its welfare state.
The decision was welcomed by the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (Picum) and Spain’s Regularisation Now! movement, but criticised by the conservative People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox party. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Sánchez of using the announcement to distract from the government’s response to a recent deadly rail crash, while Vox leader Santiago Abascal invoked the “great replacement theory” and called for mass deportations.
