Spain is set to grant legal residency to more than half a million illegal migrants in one of the largest regularisation programmes seen in Europe in decades.
The Socialist government is expected to approve the measure on Tuesday, marking the biggest move of its kind since former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero carried out a similar scheme in 2005.
Officially, the decree will apply to around 500,000 people already living in Spain without legal status. In reality, the long-term impact is likely to be far greater.
That is partly because many of those granted residency will later bring family members to Spain. It is also because such programmes tend to encourage further arrivals, creating what policymakers often describe as a ‘pull factor.’
Spain has already seen how this plays out. In 2005, the government initially estimated there would be around 700,000 beneficiaries. Within a few years, once family reunifications and additional arrivals were included, the figure had exceeded one million.
The decision comes at a time when most European countries are tightening migration policy.
Germany has reintroduced internal border checks and hardened its asylum system. Italy has restricted humanitarian protections and expanded migrant detention capacity. France is weighing new limits on regularisations alongside faster deportations.
At the EU level, the recently agreed Migration and Asylum Pact reflects the same trend, focusing on increased returns, stricter border controls, and efforts to process asylum seekers outside the bloc.
Against that backdrop, Spain’s move stands out.
The plan has also raised concerns within Spain’s Council of State and the Interior Ministry. The Council of State, the country’s top advisory body, issued a strongly critical opinion—particularly over how criminal background checks would be handled.
An earlier draft would have allowed applications to proceed even if individuals could not provide official proof of a clean criminal record from their country of origin, in some cases relying on a signed declaration. The Council rejected this approach and called for stricter verification.
Spain’s Interior Ministry also opposed the proposal, arguing that applications should be paused until authorities can confirm both identity and criminal history.
The new system is also less restrictive than the 2005 programme. At that time, employers had to initiate the process and demonstrate that the individual was already working. Under the current plan, migrants can apply on their own.
Opposition parties have announced legal challenges. The establishment conservative People’s Party says the government is bypassing parliament by using a decree, while the right-wing VOX party, led by Santiago Abascal, plans to take the case to the Supreme Court.
The implications extend beyond Spain. Anyone granted residency will be able to travel freely across most of Europe’s Schengen area.
That prospect has unsettled some European governments, particularly as they attempt to project a tougher stance on migration at home.
Madrid argues the policy will help address labour shortages and support the tax base, especially in sectors such as agriculture, hospitality, and care.
But this does not resolve the broader political concern. Large-scale regularisations can send a signal beyond a country’s borders—that entering Spain illegally may eventually lead to legal status.
That is precisely the scenario many European governments have sought to avoid in recent years.The timing also makes the decision more contentious. Unlike in 2005, Spain is now grappling with a severe housing shortage, overstretched public services, and a surge in migrant arrivals in the Canary Islands and its southern coast.
