The first legalization process in Spain was approved under the government of Felipe González and affected 38,294 people. No conditions were imposed other than that they had lived in Spain before July 1985. The subsequent process, between 1991 and 1992, required employment or being a dependent family member of the migrants who had been accepted. A total of 114,423 people received legal papers. In 1996, José María Aznar legalized 21,294 people who had been in Spain since 1986 and had held a residence or work permit. He repeated the process in 2000, granting regular entry to another 264,153 people, and in 2001, introducing the visa system for residing in Spain, he granted legal entry to another 239,174 people. The latest regularization was the most widespread and was approved by the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero: it affected 576,506 people and was also conditional on proof of residency in Spain and an employment contract.
Legalizing half a million immigrants: the price tag for Junts to achieve the transfer of powers
The promoters of the regularization ILP in Congress support Podemos' veto and regret that the left is folding in the PSOE-Juntos pact.
BarcelonaThe delegation of immigration powers from the Catalan government currently lacks the majority to pass. The four Podemos deputies reject it, and within Sumar, the law agreed upon by the PSOE and Junts is also generating controversy: Commitment is against and even the first secretary of the table and deputy of Comuns, Gerardo Pisarello, He admitted that he doesn't like the tone of the textNow, the Purple Party has already outlined the conditions under which they could lift the veto on the proposal, which they call "xenophobic." The price they set is Congressional approval of the mass regularization of immigrants, which emerged from the Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP) of the Regularization Now collective. The proposal passed the first filter of Congress With the votes of all parties except Vox, it is now stuck in the parliamentary committee, awaiting the appearances of experts.
But what are the promoters of this initiative demanding? In short: that the Spanish government approve an extraordinary regularization of all undocumented persons living in Spanish territory—they estimate there are just over half a million—in the absence of official data. The immigration law already provides ways for them to legalize their administrative status. However, Regularización Ya warns of the difficulties many migrants encounter in meeting the requirements, despite having ties to Spain and working (in the underground economy). For example, in proving continuous residence. Many live in rented rooms and find it difficult to obtain registration on the register, explains one of the group's spokespersons, Victoria Columba, to ARA.
With the ILP in process, the Spanish government decided to stick to the law and present a proposal to reform the immigration law that would facilitate regularization. of about 300,000 migrants each year in the next threeRegularization Now considers it insufficient and criticizes the fact that it is done from a "mercantilist" perspective, conditioned on the needs of the Spanish economy, and that it could leave asylum seekers who see their applications rejected in the lurch. Given this, they argue that their proposal would allow "the counter to be reset to zero" for all people in an irregular situation. From then on, they would begin the administrative process to renew their residence permit until they obtain a long-term permit.
The figures
Regularizations are not a new mechanism in Spain. Nine have been approved in democracy, five under PP governments and four under PSOE governments. The reasons behind them have been not only humanitarian but also economic. In fact, given the aging of the Spanish population, the Bank of Spain currently estimates that the state will need almost 25 million immigrants by 2053 to work and maintain the pension system.
According to a study by the Foundation for Cause, a new regularization in Spain would not entail greater expenditure for the welfare state, because the economic benefits derived from the rise in economic activity generated by these individuals would compensate for it. For example, those applying for the minimum living income could increase the amount allocated for this aid by 338 million euros, but the contribution from those regularized would rise to over 750 million euros, at least. On the other hand, the Economic and Social Council concluded in 2019 that the fiscal balance of immigration in Spain—the difference between their contribution via taxes and social security contributions and what they receive in the form of benefits—is positive: they contribute more than they spend, because most arrive as adults and work. Ireland, France, and Germany are the only three EU countries where the fiscal balance is negative.
Because Podemos claims it
Why does Podemos place this regularization as a precondition for negotiating the delegation of powers? Because they say it would demonstrate that Junts is not engaged in a "xenophobic" struggle with the Catalan Alliance that could lead them to limit the rights of migrants to Catalonia in new negotiations with the PSOE or the PSC, or even if they return to govern the Generalitat. The purple party criticizes the fact that the preamble of the law link the migration phenomenon with the saturation of public services and claim that it could put the social cohesion of the host society "at risk."
Officially, Junts has not commented on the Regularization Now proposal, but in the amendments introduced in the ILP it proposed that the Spanish government "study" (not approve) the initiative and that the final say rest with Congress, respecting the new powers that Catalonia may assume in this area. Sources within Podemos reiterate that the approval of regularization is a "red line" and that, given the rise of the international far right and the outsourcing of migration management in the European Union, they will not give in on that position just to make things easier for the PSOE with Carles Puigdemont's party. Regularization already supports them and regrets that the majority of the left in Congress has bowed its head to the pact.
According to several sources consulted by ARA, Podemos Catalunya also supports this thesis, despite the fact that it may prevent the Generalitat from assuming new powers. Despite claiming to be a party in favor of decentralization, Podemos Catalunya questions whether any delegation of powers is good. per se and maintains that the pact specifically does not represent any improvement in the rights of migrants. Other sources consulted by this newspaper also point out that part of Podemos Catalunya's membership is of migrant origin and, above all, Spanish-speaking, which leads to suspicion of Junts' attempts to make the future residence of newly arrived people in Catalonia dependent on Catalan.
