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The move marks the country's first large-scale migrant regularisation in two decades and sharply diverges from the tougher immigration stance.
09:50, Tue, Feb 3, 2026 Updated: 09:54, Tue, Feb 3, 2026
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (Image: Getty)
Spain’s Socialist government has triggered a furious political backlash with its controversial plan offer up to 500,000 undocumented migrants permanent residency. The scheme, due to come into force in April, will grant eligible migrants up to one year’s legal residency and the right to work.
Permits will be renewable, with a pathway to full citizenship after 10 years—or sooner for migrants from Latin America and recognised refugees. Critics warn the move will accelerate an “invasion”, deepen the housing crisis and overwhelm public services. Because Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s fragile coalition lacks a parliamentary majority, the reform will be pushed through by royal decree, bypassing a bill that has stalled in Spain’s divided legislature.
Feijoo (Image: Getty)
It marks the country’s first large-scale migrant regularisation in two decades and sharply diverges from the tougher immigration stance now dominant across much of Europe and the United States.
Under the plan, undocumented migrants who arrived in Spain before the end of 2025 can prove at least five months’ residence and have no criminal record and will be eligible.
Children will receive five-year permits. The government estimates about 500,000 people could benefit, though some organisations put the number of undocumented migrants closer to 800,000.
The announcement has sparked scenes of urgency on the ground. Hundreds of Pakistani nationals were seen queueing outside the consulate in Barcelona last week to obtain criminal record certificates, a key requirement for applications.
Long queues in front of the Pakistani Consulate in Barcelona (Image: Getty)
Mr Sanchez has defended the policy in moral and economic terms, insisting Spain is choosing: “Dignity, community and justice.”
In a video posted in English on social media, Mr Sanchez dismissed critics who claim the government has gone too far, asking: “When did recognising rights become something radical?”
Migration minister Elma Saiz said the reform would: “Reinforce a migratory model based on human rights.”
Ms Saiz argued that economists have linked Spain’s recent fall in unemployment and strong growth partly to immigration. Spain’s economy expanded by 2.8 % last year, more than twice the eurozone average.
But the Opposition has been scathing. The leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijoo, warned: “Rents and house prices are breaking records and working-class families are being squeezed out of cities.”
Mr Feijoo added that legalising hundreds of thousands more people without fixing housing supply would worsen the crisis.
The leader of the hard-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, accused the government of accelerating an “invasion.”
Mr Abascal pledged a legal challenge in the Supreme Court. Vox spokeswoman Pepa Millan said: “The plan attacks our identity.”
The row spilt onto the global stage after Elon Musk reacted to claims the scheme was "electoral engineering".
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Mr Sanchez hit back with: “Mars can wait. Humanity can’t.”
The government insists migrants are essential to the workforce. Critics, however, warn the policy risks handing momentum to anti-immigration parties.
English (US) · 