Spain will grant residence and work permits to about 300,000 undocumented immigrants per year!
Spain says it will grant residence and work permits to around 300,000 undocumented migrants each year for the next three years. Elma Saiz, the Spanish Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, announced the new policy during an interview with Spain's national broadcaster on Wednesday.
"The regulation opens doors that were previously closed with three keys: education, employment and family. Three keys that lead to inclusiveness, but with high standards in terms of legal requirements and in terms of human rights", she explained.
The policy will take effect in May 2025 and will remain in place until 2027. It is part of Spain's effort to expand its workforce in the face of an aging population.
Spain needs about 250,000 registered foreign workers a year to maintain its welfare state, Saiz said, explaining that the legalization policy is not only aimed at "cultural wealth and respect for human rights, but it is also prosperity." . "Today, we can say that Spain is a better country," she added.
The reform shortens and simplifies legal and administrative procedures for work and residence permits, allowing immigrants to register as self-employed or salaried workers, and provides them with additional guarantees of labor rights.
It also extends a visa previously offered to job seekers for three months to a year. Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has often described his government's migration policies as a means of combating the country's low birth rate.
Spain is one of the European countries that receives the most irregular immigrants every year. From January 1 to November 15, 2024, more than 54,000 migrants entered Spain irregularly, 15.8% more than in 2023, according to data from the Spanish Interior Ministry.
In August, Sánchez visited three West African countries in an effort to address irregular migration to Spain's Canary Islands.
The archipelago off the coast of Africa is seen by many as a stepping stone to mainland Europe with young people from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and other areas seeking better job opportunities abroad or fleeing violence and political instability at home.
Many undocumented immigrants eke out a living in Spain's underground economy as fruit pickers, caretakers, delivery drivers or other low-paying but essential jobs that are often passed over by Spaniards.
Without legal protection, they can be vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Saiz said the new policy will help prevent such abuse and "serve to fight mobsters, fraud and rights violations."
Spain's economy is among the fastest growing in the European Union this year, driven in part by a strong return to tourism after the pandemic. In 2023, Spain issued 1.3 million visas to foreigners, according to the government.
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