Mass regularization of migrants starts on April 16: how will it work?

MadridGreen light for massive regularization of migrants. After the public hearing process and the mandatory reports, the Spanish government approved this Tuesday the royal decree that will serve to regularize the situation of more than half a million people who are already in the State but do not have their rights recognized. "It is an act of coherence and social justice," proclaimed the spokesperson, Elma Saiz, "it is a historic measure and has all legal guarantees," she added. However, how will the process work?

Start

According to Saiz, tomorrow, April 15th, the royal decree will be published in the BOE and the process will start on April 16th. Regularization can be requested online and, at the same time, an appointment can be made to carry out the process in person. The minister has emphasized that it will be essential to request this appointment to be able to physically go to the administration's office from April 20th. This procedure, which is mandatory to enter the process, can be done until June 30th.

Requirements

The requirements to be able to enter the regularization of migrants involve being in Spain before January 1, 2026, having resided uninterruptedly in the Spanish state for at least five months from the moment of application; not having a criminal record and, at the same time, not posing a "threat" to public order and security. Registration is a document accrediting current residence in the State, but it is not mandatory.

What about the issue of criminal records?

Regarding criminal records, the executive has had to tighten conditions after the State Council's report, as the initial bill required a responsible declaration stating that there were no criminal records, but it did not end up being mandatory to provide a supporting document. Now, as reported by El País and confirmed by ARA, the Spanish government gives applicants one month to request a certificate from their countries of origin, and if they do not obtain it, the state executive itself will request this documentation. This issue had been introduced by the PP in the Senate withEl País and confirmed by ARA, the Spanish government gives applicants one month to request a certificate from their countries of origin, and if they do not obtain it, the state executive itself will request this documentation. This issue had been introduced by the PP in the Senate with and which Junts was going to endorse in Congress, but the Spanish government vetoed it at the last minute, alleging that it would entail an extra outlay of public money, a total of 16 million euros. It now establishes a three-month process to obtain the documents through diplomatic channels. If the papers do not arrive, the regulation gives interested individuals an extra 15 days to obtain them on their own, and if they do not succeed, they will not be able to enter the regularization process.

How many people will it affect?

This regularization of migrants is expected to affect approximately 500,000 people, but the Spanish government admits they do not know exactly how many people it will ultimately reach because it will depend on the processing procedure. They have not provided data by autonomous communities either. What the minister did want to make clear is that governments of all political stripes have carried out regularizations, even though this one is the most massive to date. In 1986, under the government of Felipe González, a regularization was carried out that affected 38,294 people; the same president launched another in 1991 that affected 114,423 people and in 1996 one of 21,294 migrants. The PP of José María Aznar also executed two: one in the year 2000 with 264,153 people and another in 2001 with 239,174 people. In the year 2005, José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero (PSOE) carried out the largest to date with 576,506 people.

Sánchez defends the regularization and the PP condemns it

The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, has defended this regularization as an "act of normalization": "To recognize the reality of almost half a million people who are already part of our daily lives," he said. In a text disseminated on X, the Spanish president also defends the measure as an "act of justice with our own history," in reference to the Spanish emigrants who went to America and Europe "in search of a better life." Sánchez, however, also admits that regularizing about 500,000 people is also a "necessity," although he acknowledges that all migratory processes pose "challenges." "Spain, like other European countries, is aging. Without new people working and contributing, our prosperity slows down, our capacity to innovate weakens, and our public services suffer," he said. The objective of the measure is, according to Sánchez, "to recognize rights, but also to demand obligations."

For its part, the PP has condemned the measure. In a speech before the popular parliamentary groups in Congress and the Senate, Alberto Núñez Feijóo positioned himself "absolutely against the massive and irresponsible regularization" and has raised "one million immigrants" as possible beneficiaries. The popular leader criticized that the Spanish government does not have a real estimate of how many people will actually be welcomed nor an "economic report" on the impact on education or healthcare. According to Feijóo, it will mean an "unsustainable overload" for the system and added that, moreover, the regularization is "inhumane", "unjust" and "insecure". In the PP's opinion, and despite the last-minute toughening, there is still "not enough control" in the procedure —reports Andrea Zamorano.