‘Country grows, we grow too’: 1 million migrants seek legal status in Spain

Spain's new regularization initiative for undocumented migrants has drawn significantly higher participation than government projections, with over one million applications submitted during the April-to-June 2025 period. The scheme represents Spain's first regularization process since 2005 and reflects a departure from Europe's increasingly restrictive immigration policies. The government had anticipated approximately 500,000 applications, but the actual figure of 1,174,978 submissions underscores the extent of undocumented populations within Spanish society. According to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, only 11,000 applications had received favorable resolutions at the time of reporting, while approximately 608,000 had been accepted for processing, granting provisional residency and work permits pending final determinations. The government has three months to resolve the majority of submitted applications. The initiative emerged from broad social consensus and received backing from civil society organizations, the Catholic Church, trade unions, and business associations. Advocates argue the program addresses a critical gap in state protection for vulnerable populations. Edith Espinola, president of the Active Domestic Workers' Service Association and spokesperson for the Regularizacion Ya collective, characterized the massive response as both encouraging and indicative of state failure in protecting vulnerable individuals. She noted that living without legal status condemns people to social exclusion and leaves them without rights or protections from exploitation. Individual applicants described the regularization process as essential for accessing dignified work conditions. Badr Tmairi, a 22-year-old Moroccan who arrived in Spain at age 16, has spent six years without legal status and experienced homelessness for the past year. Rocio Neciosupe, a 54-year-old Peruvian cleaner, emphasized that regularization represents an opportunity to work with rights and protections rather than a charitable handout, noting her current inability to access sick leave despite sustaining a work-related back injury.