Spain brings nearly one million undocumented residents out of the shadows in landmark regularisation programme

MADRID, Spain (MNTV) – Spain’s extraordinary regularisation programme for undocumented migrants has drawn close to one million applications with the passing of the June 30 deadline, nearly doubling the government’s initial estimate and positioning the initiative as one of the largest integration efforts in recent European history.

By mid-June, the migration ministry had received approximately 900,000 applications since the scheme opened on April 16 under Royal Decree 316/2026. 

The government had originally estimated that around 500,000 people would be eligible, though the independent Spanish think tank Funcas placed the likely figure closer to 840,000. 

The Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid said it expected the final total to surpass one million before the window closed.

Since April, Madrid has issued roughly 360,000 temporary work permits, allowing applicants to begin working legally the moment their files entered processing — a provision the decree makes permanent for all future applications of its kind. 

The programme grants a one-year renewable residence and work permit to foreign nationals who were living in Spain before January 1, 2026, can demonstrate at least five months of continuous residence, hold a clean criminal record, and pay a fee of €38.28. Children of successful applicants receive five-year permits.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez introduced the scheme by royal decree in January after years of campaigning by migrant organizations and pressure from leftwing coalition partner Podemos. 

He described the measure as both an act of justice and an economic necessity, arguing that people already living and working in Spain should do so on equal terms and contribute to the country’s tax and social security systems.

Spain’s migration minister, Elma Saiz Delgado, framed the programme in demographic terms, noting that without continued migration, the impact of an aging population on economic growth would be considerably more severe. 

The country faces persistent labour shortages across hospitality, agriculture, construction, and care work — sectors where undocumented workers have long formed a significant share of the workforce.

Seventh regularisation in four decades

The programme is Spain’s seventh extraordinary regularisation in four decades and the first since 2005, when a similar initiative brought more than 570,000 workers into the legal system. 

Both socialist and conservative governments have used such schemes in the past, though the opposition Partido Popular opposed the 2026 programme, arguing it could attract further irregular migration.

Researchers dispute that claim. Blanca Garcés Mascareñas, a senior research fellow at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, has argued that economic conditions, not migration policy or the prospect of regularisation, act as the primary driver of migration flows.

The majority of undocumented people in Spain arrived legally, most commonly as tourists from Latin American countries who overstayed their visas. 

The regularisation allows them to apply on the basis of employment, family dependents, or vulnerability — the latter defined broadly to encompass anyone whose irregular status is affecting their rights or living conditions.

Rights organizations welcome initiative

Rights organizations and refugee agencies have strongly welcomed the initiative. Elena Muñoz, coordinator of the legal team at the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid, said the pandemic exposed the precarious situation of undocumented residents and how essential many of them were to the country’s functioning. 

She said regularisation will shield people from deportation, protect them from exploitation in the informal economy, allow them to make social security contributions, and make them eligible for unemployment benefits and pensions.

Muñoz noted that while Spain’s public healthcare system is nominally universal, undocumented residents routinely face bureaucratic obstacles in accessing it. Regularisation removes those barriers. 

Legal status will also help many meet rental requirements that demand proof of formal employment, though she cautioned that Spain’s housing crisis and discrimination by landlords will continue to present challenges.

The Jesuit Migrant Service Spain, part of the JRS Europe network, welcomed the measure as a positive and necessary response to the realities faced by migrants living in precarity, noting that it provides not just legal recognition but access to rights, protection, and dignified participation in society. 

JRS Europe called on other EU member states to consider similar pathways.

Practical challenges have accompanied the rollout. Applicants reported difficulty obtaining required documents — particularly criminal record certificates and birth certificates from their countries of origin — within the tight timeframe. 

Long queues formed at local government offices and post offices as people scrambled to secure municipal registration and vulnerability certificates. Some local councils were initially underprepared for the volume of applications, and appointment slots filled quickly.

Over 370 post offices across Spain, including in rural areas and small towns, were authorized to receive applications alongside 60 social security offices and a network of immigration offices. 

Applications could also be submitted online or through registered NGOs acting as representatives.

Muñoz argued that the programme, while significant, should be paired with permanent, flexible immigration pathways — such as jobseeker visas — to prevent future cycles in which large numbers of people accumulate irregular status before being regularised in one-off exercises. 

The establishment of ongoing legal routes would serve both migrants and labour markets, she said.

As the deadline passes, Spain’s programme stands in contrast to the approach of many European governments that have focused on tightening border controls and accelerating deportations. 

By bringing hundreds of thousands of informal workers into the tax base and social security system, the Spanish government is betting that integration will yield stronger economic returns than enforcement alone — a wager that will be measured in the months and years ahead as permits are processed and renewed.