The Spanish government has authorized a wide proposal to give legal status to as many as 500,000 undocumented immigrants. This is meant to formally include them in the country’s workforce and society as a whole.
Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister, justified the choice, calling it “an act of justice” and a realistic need for Spain. The socialist leader wrote in a letter uploaded on social media that the project is meant “to recognize the reality of almost half a million people who are already a part of our daily lives.”
Under the plan, qualified immigrants will get a one-year residence permit that they can renew.
To be eligible, applicants must show that they have lived in Spain for at least five months and have no criminal record. The time to apply is from April 16 to the end of June.
Sánchez also talked about how immigration help make Spain “rich, open, and diverse,” which is what we want it to be. He also said that making their position legal will help the economy and keep public services running, especially because Spain’s population is getting older. The prime minister also said that Spain’s history of people leaving the country made the policy the right thing to do.
The Funcas think tank says that there are roughly 840,000 undocumented immigrants living in Spain right now, and most of them are from Latin America.
People have had different reactions to the policy. The conservative opposition party, the People’s Party (PP), has promised to fight the idea, saying it rewards illegal immigration and could bring in more people. The party says that the government’s estimates are too low and that as many as one million migrants could apply for legal status. They called the idea a “outrage.”
Support has come from other places, like the Catholic Church, which has backed the law.
The plan gives many migrants a way to find stability. Ricardo, a Bolivian graphic designer who has had trouble finding steady work, said, “This is going to help a lot of people get jobs and live better lives.” And it means more money for the Spanish government and more staff will be legally available to businesses.
Spain has had comparable regularization programs in the past, both under Socialist and PP regimes. The most recent one was in 2005, when a Socialist government gave residency to 577,000 persons.
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