Spain's Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants: 900,000 Applications

Spain has received around 900,000 applications from migrants who lack legal residence in the country and wish to have their status regularized through the socialist government’s mass amnesty. This is significantly more than authorities initially estimated, as they had planned for about 500,000 applications.

According to the country’s migration department, the high number indicates that the demand for residence and work permits is greater than previously assessed. The program aims, among other things, to give people without valid documentation the opportunity to formally enter the labor market.

In the long run, this means they may obtain the right to stay in Spain, which in turn opens up the possibility of enjoying free movement within the EU.

The initiative comes at a time when migration is a much-debated issue within the EU. Several European countries have tightened their borders and become more restrictive, while the EU Commission largely supports this development. Spain, on the other hand, continues to pursue a more open approach in its migration policy.

This difference has not led to any clear conflict with the EU leadership under Ursula von der Leyen, who in other contexts has been more critical of, for example, Viktor Orbán’s stricter border policy during his term as Prime Minister of Hungary.

The situation in the country is also illustrated by how many migrants are trying to regularize their status in practice. In the city of Almería, people have been seen queuing outside city hall, sometimes overnight, to obtain certificates required to apply for legalization.