Spain says nearly 1.2 million migrants sought legal status

Spain received almost 1.2 million applications from undocumented migrants seeking legal status under a government program that closed on June 30, officials said. The figures put Madrid at odds with a broader European shift toward tighter rules on irregular immigration.

Secretary of State for Migration Pilar Cancela told a news conference in Madrid on Thursday that 1,174,978 applications were filed between mid-April and the end of June. She said more than 600,000 of those applications were already being processed.

The program was launched in April by the Socialist government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has argued that immigration is needed to support Spain’s economy and public services. Al Jazeera and AFP reported that the plan has drawn support from business leaders and anger from conservative and far-right opponents.

Who applied

According to Cancela, Latin American nationals accounted for 67 percent of applications. Colombian nationals made up the largest single group, representing 25.9 percent of the total.

African nationalities accounted for 22.9 percent of applications, officials said. After Colombia, the most represented countries were Morocco at 13.3 percent, Venezuela at 11.8 percent and Peru at 8.8 percent.

The applicant pool was largely young, according to the government figures. Eight in 10 applicants were under 45, while 57 percent were male and 43 percent were female.

The total number of applications does not mean the same number of people will receive legal status. Government projections in April put the number of potential beneficiaries at about 500,000, according to Al Jazeera and AFP.

How the permits work

Applicants must show they have no criminal record and that they spent at least five consecutive months in Spain before January 1, officials said. Authorities have three months to review each file.

If approved, applicants receive work and residence permits that are valid only in Spain. The government has presented the measure as a way to bring more workers into the formal economy.

Sanchez has linked the program to labor needs in sectors including construction. At a migration presentation on Tuesday, he said Spain would lose 19 percent of its gross domestic product by 2050 without immigration.

“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,” Sanchez said.

He also said Spain would be “poorer, emptier, weaker and without the resources to fund its welfare state” without immigration. “Spain has never moved forward by building walls,” Sanchez said. “The only decent thing to do is extend a hand, not turn our backs on immigration.”

Opposition criticism

Business leaders in Spain have welcomed the regularization effort, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. The conservative and far-right opposition have said the policy will encourage more irregular immigration.

Santiago Abascal, the leader of the far-right Vox party, attacked the program on X. “More than a million strangers now competing with Spaniards for jobs, housing, daycare places, hospital beds, and social assistance. It’s an invasion. And it’s a betrayal,” he said.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.