The Council of Ministers has approved the reform of the immigration regulations, which will allow immigrants living and working in Spain without legal status to regularize their immigration status. This is good news, not only for the dignity of those directly affected, but also for society as a whole. According to recent estimates of FuncasMore than 800,000 immigrants who are already part of the country's economic and social fabric could benefit from this policy.

In recent weeks, we have witnessed an intense debate in the media, especially in the newspaper ARA, regarding the fiscal contribution of immigration to the welfare state. However, a significant part of this debate has been built on partial or outright biased interpretations of a phenomenon that is, by definition, complex. In this column, I would like to return to the empirical evidence and briefly explain what the most recent studies analyzing the Spanish case tell us.