Spain has received more than 1.3 million applications under its extraordinary migrant regularization programme, making it the largest immigration amnesty ever undertaken in Europe. The figure is more than double the 500,000 applications the Spanish government originally expected when the programme was launched earlier this year.
The regularization process, which opened on April 16, is designed to give undocumented migrants the opportunity to obtain legal residence and work permits. The application deadline falls on June 30, after which authorities will continue processing all submitted requests over the following months.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the initiative is both a humanitarian and economic measure. According to the government, granting legal status to undocumented migrants will help fill labour shortages, strengthen Spain’s economy, and increase contributions to the country’s pension system by bringing more workers into the formal labour market.
By the middle of June, Spanish authorities had already granted provisional residence permits to about 360,000 applicants out of approximately 900,000 applications received at that stage. Officials expect the review process to continue for around three months before final decisions are issued.
To qualify for the programme, applicants must have entered Spain before January 1, lived continuously in the country for at least five months, and have no criminal record. Recognizing that some applicants face difficulties obtaining documents from their home countries, the government introduced special measures to assist those unable to immediately provide proof of a clean criminal record.
Mauricio Valiente, Chief Executive of the Spanish Commission for Refugees (CEAR), believes around 900,000 migrants could eventually receive legal status. While acknowledging that some applications may be duplicates, he said approval rates are expected to remain high because the eligibility requirements are straightforward and clearly defined.
The programme is Spain’s seventh large-scale migrant regularization initiative since the 1980s. It far exceeds the country’s previous regularization drives, including the 500,000 migrants legalized in 2005. It is also larger than Italy’s 2002 programme, which regularized more than 634,000 undocumented workers and was previously considered Europe’s largest migration amnesty.
Spain’s approach has attracted attention across Europe, where many governments have instead adopted stricter migration policies focused on border enforcement and deportations. The European Commission has clarified that residence permits granted under Spain’s programme are valid only within Spain and do not automatically give migrants the right to settle elsewhere in the European Union.
The policy has also generated political debate within Spain. Opposition parties, including the centre-right Partido Popular (PP) and the right-wing Vox party, argue that the programme could encourage more irregular migration. Meanwhile, Sánchez’s coalition partner, Sumar, has called for an extension of the application deadline to allow more migrants facing administrative delays to complete their applications.
Despite political disagreements, Spain continues to experience one of the strongest economic performances in Europe. The government recently raised its economic growth forecast for 2026 to 2.6 percent and expects growth to remain above 2 percent annually through 2029. Economists say migrant workers have helped support key industries such as hospitality, agriculture, caregiving, and elderly care by filling labour shortages and increasing social security contributions.
The regularization programme reflects Spain’s broader strategy of using legal migration to support long-term economic growth while providing undocumented migrants with access to stable employment, legal protections, and social integration. If current estimates are confirmed, the initiative will become the largest migrant regularization programme ever implemented in Europe.