More than 1 million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers have applied to regularise their status in Spain under a government programme to harness and defend the benefits of immigration at a time when most European countries are pulling up the drawbridge.
Although the massive regularisation initiative, announced by the socialist-led government in January, was originally intended to benefit about 500,000 people, it had attracted more than twice that number of applicants by the time the registration period ended on Tuesday.
The scheme offers a residence and work permit, initially valid for one year, to applicants who can prove that they do not have a criminal record and that they had lived in Spain for at least five months – or had sought international protection – before 31 December 2025.
Speaking in Madrid on Tuesday, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said the huge take-up of the programme revealed how sorely it was needed. “The fact that more than 1 million people submitted applications shows just how necessary this recognition of rights and responsibilities was,” he said.
Sánchez said Spain needed immigration to grow economically, to tackle its demographic crisis and to finance its welfare state.
“Without immigration, Spain’s GDP would be 19% lower in 2050,” he said. “And what does that mean in business terms? It means, for example, that 90,000 bars would have to close, that 50,000 primary and secondary classrooms would find themselves without students, and that around 220,000 farms would disappear.”
He added that without immigration, Spain would be “poorer, emptier, weaker and without the resources to fund its welfare state”.
Although similar extraordinary regularisation programmes have been introduced by previous socialist and conservative governments in Spain, the latest scheme has been fiercely criticised by the rightwing People’s party (PP) and the far-right Vox party.
The PP has suggested the move will overwhelm Spain’s public services, while Vox has claimed that Sánchez is trying to bring about “the demographic, social, labour and electoral transformation of Spain”.
The PP regional governments of Valencia and Aragón have lodged appeals against the regularisation programme. On Tuesday, the court said it was considering asking the European court of justice whether aspects of the Spanish government’s regularisation decree could be at odds with EU law.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the PP, has also taken issue with the government’s decision to introduce a democratic memory law four years ago that offered Spanish citizenship to the descendants of Spaniards who were forced into exile during the Spanish civil war and the subsequent Franco dictatorship. More than 2.4 million people applied for citizenship under the law and more than 544,000 people have already been approved.
In a radio interview on Monday, Feijóo accused Sánchez of engaging in “electoral engineering” in the hope of securing more socialist voters.
“What’s behind this [the descent law] is an obvious interest in getting new voters,” he told Es Radio. “Seeing as the current voters aren’t working out, let’s see if manufacturing [new] voters pans out.”
The government dismissed Feijóo’s accusations, saying they reeked of desperation.
“I find them incredibly irresponsible,” said Elma Saiz, Spain’s minister for inclusion, social security and migration. “They demonstrate the desperation and frustration of someone who has no political project for our country and who already seems to sense an electoral defeat.”
Sánchez has been a staunch and sustained defender of the need for migration at a time when other European leaders have adopted the language of the far right in an effort to convince voters they are also taking immigration seriously.
Addressing parliament in October 2024, Sánchez said the country was at a demographic crossroads and needed migration to grow its economy and maintain its welfare state.
“Throughout history, migration has been one of the great drivers of the development of nations while hatred and xenophobia have been – and continue to be – the greatest destroyer of nations,” he said. “The key is in managing it well.”
On Tuesday, Sánchez unveiled a €500m (£431m) “integration and citizenship” plan to help manage the flow of migrants and ensure they are well integrated. “Spanish society must guarantee equal treatment, combat discrimination, and offer opportunities,” he said. “And those who arrive must respect our laws, learn our official languages, and share the democratic values that define us.”