Spain starts program to legalize up to half-million migrants

By Pau Mosquera, Michael Rios, CNN

Madrid, Spain (CNN) — Spain has kicked off a program aimed at granting legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants, in a move that goes against a trend of anti-immigration rhetoric and policies in the United States and much of Europe.

The program, announced in January, intends to reduce labor exploitation in Spain’s underground economy. The country’s central bank and the United Nations have previously said that Spain needs around 300,000 migrant workers a year to sustain its welfare state.

Hundreds of migrants lined up outside migration offices to try to legalize their status on Monday as Spain opened an in-person application window.

Others queued outside city council buildings to obtain a certificate confirming they are in a state of vulnerability. Such a document is sometimes required to apply for regularization.

In Almería, a city on Spain’s southeastern coast, the line was so long that police had to turn people away for the day.

“I arrived at 6:30 a.m. There were already a lot of people. I’ll have to get up earlier,” Colombian migrant Enrique Solana told Reuters after an officer said officials would not be able to help all the migrants that day.

Spanish Migration Minister Elma Saiz said migrants must visit assigned offices by appointment and that in certain cases a vulnerability certificate is required.

She pushed back against concerns that the mass legalization measure would lead to more competition for jobs.

“Regularization is not competition. It is social justice and visibility. It is giving opportunities,” she said Monday on X.

When Spain announced the measure in January, Saiz said the country was “strengthening a migration model based on human rights, integration, coexistence and compatibility with economic growth and social cohesion.”

She added that the new measure was “necessary to respond to a reality that exists on our streets” and would benefit the country’s economy.

The presidency has said the measure will allow a “dignified” life for migrants.

Foreigners who arrived in Spain before Dec. 31, 2025, and can prove they have been living in the country for at least five months will be granted legal residency of up to one year and work permits valid for any sector nationwide. They will need to prove they have no criminal record.

People are able to apply from the beginning of April until June 30.

How many undocumented migrants are in Spain?

There are far more undocumented migrants in Spain than this new policy serves. Funcas, an analysis center linked to the Spanish Confederation of Savings Banks (CECA), estimates that 840,000 undocumented migrants were in the country at the beginning of 2025.

Most — about 760,000 — are from Latin America, according to Funcas. Some 290,000 come from Colombia, nearly 110,000 from Peru and 90,000 from Honduras.

The number of undocumented migrants in Spain has grown eightfold since 2017, according to Funcas.

January’s announcement builds on a measure that took effect in May of last year, which aimed to simplify and expedite the legalization process. The Spanish government said the policy could allow 900,000 undocumented migrants to obtain legal status over the following three years.

A history of pathways to legal status

Spain has approved large-scale pathways to legal status for undocumented migrants on at least six other occasions since the 1980s.

Under the socialist government of Felipe González in 1986, more than 38,000 people obtained legal status. Between 1991 and 1992, also under González as prime minister, legal residence was offered to more than 114,000 people.

Under Prime Minister José María Aznar in 1996, 2000 and 2001, papers were granted to more than 524,000 people. The last large-scale granting of legal status took place almost 21 years ago, when the government of José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero processed more than 576,000 applications.

The start of the legalization program under Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez follows US President Donald Trump’s criticism of Europe’s “politically correct” immigration policies. At the UN General Assembly in September, Trump said Europe was in “serious trouble” and “invaded by a force of illegal aliens.”

And in January in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said certain places in Europe are “not even recognizable” anymore and “not heading in the right direction.”

A number of European nations have taken hard-line policies on immigration, such as Italy’s controversial practice of sending asylum seekers rescued at sea to deportation centers. Spain has largely remained an outlier in Europe, seeing immigration as a way to boost the country’s economy.

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