Since arriving in Barcelona, Silvia has been living with administrative irregularity. At twelve years old, she followed in the footsteps of her mother, Angela, who the summer of the pandemic emigrated from Honduras trusting that she could soon regularize her situation. Seeing that it would not be easy, she paid for the girl's plane ticket and almost two years later she landed here, unaware that sharing a bed in a rented room awaited her. She doesn't remember how many apartments she's been through, but she does remember the day she realized she would be "different", when the school planned a trip abroad and she didn't have a passport.

The extraordinary regularization process for migrants has concluded with 1,174,978 applications to join the process throughout the State. The figure exceeds the half-million forecast made by Pedro Sánchez's executive when it announced the opening of the procedure, the seventh of its kind in democratic times and the first in 20 years. Of the total requests, more than 52% have already been admitted for processing, and therefore the beneficiaries now have a first temporary authorization to live and work in Spain. After admission, the government has three months to respond, but rejected applications have not been made public. Catalonia, with 257,000 —two out of every 10—, is the territory that has registered the most files, ahead of the Community of Madrid (202,000), the Valencian Country (167,000), and Andalusia (161,000).

That the Supreme Court now allows itself to question the regularization of immigrants carried out by the current government of Spain (the deadline to apply for it ended this Tuesday) tells us several things. The main one, that the high court, with a majority of magistrates from the PP and Vox, is not only well decided to continue the fight for the salvation of Spain through the persecution of left-wing corrupt individuals, or suspects, or those pointed out (“they must have done something”), but has also decided to challenge the policies of a democratically elected government. This is nothing new, but rather —we said yesterday— we have known this at least since the Constitutional Court's ruling against the Statute of Catalonia. Now, however, with Catalan independence movement undone, scattered and poisoned with discourses of hatred and supremacism/racism (defeated, therefore), they no longer need to deal with what the magistrates would call “territorial issues”. Instead, they now prefer to intervene in immigration policy: at every moment, their debate.The Supreme Court's “doubts” regarding the immigrant regularization process are raised by the requests submitted by two autonomous communities, Aragon and the Valencian Community, governed by the PP and Vox, or by the PP with the support of Vox. These are communities with rulers who maintain — they also say this in the Balearic Islands, for example — that the regularization of immigrants will cause employment and housing problems for Spaniards. It seems that mass tourism and uncontrolled speculation do not cause these kinds of problems; on the other hand, giving legal recognition to people who already live here — subjected to labor exploitation and immersed in the underground economy — does cause problems. Or perhaps it is that these parties have also realized that anti-immigration, hate, and racism/supremacism discourses indeed have a great following nowadays and they stubbornly embrace them. And with the legal certainty of the Supreme Court, which gladly accompanies them on this journey.To do so, the Supreme Court looks, and this is new, towards Europe. Traditionally, Spanish justice distrusts and speaks ill of European courts, and has blamed, insulted, and ridiculed them every time they have ruled in favor of separatists or exiled rappers. Now, however, they seek complicity and shelter under the protection of the EU's Migration and Asylum Pact, which came into force on June 12 and is one of the most shameful documents the Union has produced in its entire history. It can be attempted to justify with whatever subterfuges one wishes, but it is the EU giving itself the green light to create detention camps where immigrants will be abandoned to an uncertain and often fatal fate; yes: in non-EU countries, so that it is not seen so much. The Supreme Court uses this to deepen the drift of the Spanish state, according to which the courts take the reins of government as and when they see fit. The Migration and Asylum Pact (the name is already a sarcasm) is, for its part, a giant step for the EU towards its self-destruction.

The final stretch of the extraordinary regularization process for migrants promoted by the Spanish government is coming to an end with an open judicial front. Given the doubts raised by the Supreme Court about the measure's compatibility with European law, experts consulted by ARA agree that it is unlikely to have immediate effects on the applications submitted. While the legal world points to possible shortcomings in the processing, organizations and groups that have helped migrants with paperwork – often fighting against misinformation and lack of resources and suffering from administrative collapse– are now focusing all their efforts on ensuring that applicants can complete the procedures before the deadline expires this Tuesday.

As if the Spanish government didn't have enough open fronts with the justice system, another unexpected one has now opened in the administrative chamber of the Supreme Court against the extraordinary regularization of immigrants, which ends this very 30th and has already exceeded one million applications. The Supreme Court, responding to the appeals filed by the Valencian and Aragonese governments, both from the PP, now questions the legality of the regularization based on European regulations. This new judicial blow to the Sánchez government is signed by Carlos Lesmes, a conservative magistrate who was president of the CGPJ and the TS for 5 years; Wenceslao Olea, who was a member of the CGPJ at the proposal of the PP, and Fernando Román García, who was Secretary of State for Justice under Mariano Rajoy.

The Supreme Court expresses doubts about the legality of the extraordinary regularization of migrants that the Spanish government has promoted and which ends this Tuesday. In two rulings to which ARA has had access, the high court questions the fit of the decree approved by Pedro Sánchez's executive within European law and gives five days to the parties involved against the process – in this case the government of Aragon and that of the Valencian Community, both from the PP – to pronounce on the suitability of raising a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), based in Luxembourg.

Days after the European Parliament approved the Return Regulation to the cry of "send them back!" (send them back!), in Spain the deadline for submitting applications for the extraordinary regularization process ends with figures that will exceed one million people. Faced with irregular immigration, the European Union responds with deportations - which it dreams of as massive - and celebrates it with overflowing joy. Spain, on the other hand, is carrying out the largest extraordinary regularization in its history.Why? The regularization is the result of the mobilization of migrant communities that began in the midst of the pandemic and culminated in the largest Popular Legislative Initiative (it surpassed 700,000 signatures) ever presented to the Congress of Deputies. Years later, a last-minute pact between PSOE and Podemos unblocked it. But the regularization would also not be understood without taking into account much more structural factors that have remained unchanged since the beginning of the century.The first is the almost insatiable demand for new workers which is met by the arrival of immigrant people. The demand is structural, but in periods of economic growth like the current one, it grows exponentially. The second is that there are no regular entry routes for these workers: this is why most of them enter as tourists and stay for a few years working irregularly while waiting to regularize their status. The third is that the majority are Latin Americans, who are perceived as necessary and culturally close. Although they are not the only ones, they are the desired ones.

The day before the extraordinary regularization process for migrants ends, there are still those who submit their documentation. For Al Bilal, a Pakistani man in his forties, it has been "very" difficult to obtain all the papers, especially the criminal records from their country because they had only partially reached them to the point where they had considered completing the procedures without attaching the proof they had requested. Finally, the paper arrived last week, just in time "to avoid surprises," he says. On the contrary, it even includes the registration that is not required. Pending definitive data, the latest official figures from a couple of weeks ago indicated that 900,000 applications have been made, although journalistic reports increased the figures to 1.2 million cases, more than double the half a million predicted by the Spanish government.

Final stretch of the extraordinary regularization process that should allow thousands of migrants living and working in Spain (in the underground economy) to obtain the residence permit that will allow them to end a life without rights. After a turbulent start more than two months ago, in which misinformation and lack of resources led to long queues of applicants to receive the necessary documentation for the procedures, the process will close on June 30. So far, more than 900,000 applications have been submitted, almost double the 500,000 foreseen by the Spanish government.

The Supreme Court has put a stop to the government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Vox, and has rejected temporarily paralyzing the extraordinary regularization of immigrantswhich began a month and a half ago. The Contentious-Administrative Chamber decided this after five hearings held this morning, which served for the Madrid executive, the far-right party, and three ultra associations to launch attacks against the regularization process promoted by the Spanish government after an agreement with Podemos. In one of them, the State Attorney announced that as of May 21st, 549,596 applications had been submitted and 91,905 had begun to be processed. Those who passed the first filter received a provisional authorization to work. In many cases, these were people who had jobs: they were working illegally and now do so legally, or they have found work elsewhere. "We are not talking about entry, but about a radically different issue. We are talking about a group of people who were in Spain, who can prove five months of residence, and who had deficits in accessing rights," argued the State Attorney. He also highlighted that the regularization serves to "respond to labor market challenges" and seeks to offer "effective and rapid integration" to people who have "roots" and an "inseparable bond of coexistence" in Spain.

Two weeks after the in-person process for processing the extraordinary regularization of immigrants was launched, Barcelona City Council has announced that it will open Pavilion 2 of the Montjuïc Exhibition Centre from this Wednesday to speed up procedures. Since it was launched, 94,000 registration certificates and 17,000 vulnerability reports have been issued – the majority of which (10,000) have been downloaded online – as detailed this Tuesday by the Deputy Mayor for Social Rights, Raquel Gil.

When the current extraordinary regularization process for immigrants is completed, up to 150,000 people who live and in many cases work in Catalonia –almost half a million throughout Spain– will go from not having papers and living in the underground economy, to being able to formally enter the labor system with legal residence permits. The regularization will have evident consequences in many areas, such as the labor market or social security, but research also indicates that it may have consequences for security.

It is 12 at night and Nancy is watching a movie on Netflix like many Catalans do before going to sleep. She, however, is doing it from her mobile, on a street in Barcelona, ​​sheltered from the cold with a parka she uses as a blanket. Next to her is another girl sleeping on the ground covered with several layers. She has taken off her shoes to sleep and Nancy is watching her shoes, although she doesn't know her name. They met in the queue in front of the accompaniment center for the regularization of migrant people on Miquel Bleach street, which started operating on Monday to respond to high demand. Like them, this week hundreds of people living and working in Catalonia have spent the night at the doors of municipal buildings and social entities to obtain the vulnerability report or the census and complete the process to obtain residency and have a work permit in order.

The balance of the first week of the regularization of the 150,000 migrants living and in many cases working in Catalonia is summarized by 12-hour queues at the doors of town halls and social entities to obtain the vulnerability report and by the consequences of having had to improvise at the last minute to adapt to the definitive wording of the approved instruction. "They say we don't need the vulnerability report or the census, but I know people who then don't have their application accepted," says Elida Rojas, a Bolivian with two children to support.

During the Spanish rotating presidency, the Twenty-Seven approved the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum and two years after its approval, on June 12, the transition period for states to adapt to it expires. From this date, the agreement will be fully in force throughout the European Union. The text stipulates that the irregular entry of non-EU persons must be avoided and facilitates the return of all those who do not have the right to request official protection. For human rights organizations, this is an initiative that advances towards the necropolitics of borders. In other words, betting everything on control and a hard line in reception. Sílvia Morgades, an associate professor of public international law and international relations at UPF, has thoroughly studied what this process will entail.

“Coming and kicking down the door is rewarded in Spain”, says Jorge Buxadé, Secretary General of Vox, to refer to the regularization of immigrants. But the majority of people who will benefit from this measure have not arrived by kicking down any doors: they have been inside for years, often opening and closing our doors every day —and assuming care that, as a society, we are not resolving.Around half a million people: a staggering figure. This is why Feijóo talks about "bulk" regularization and the opposition stirs up the ghost of the pull effect. But the data do not support this fear: neither the 2005 regularization —which granted papers to more than 576,000 people— nor any other regularization in Spain generated any measurable effect, according to available studies. Migration flows depend on the economic cycle and the situation in the countries of origin, not on the host country's reception policies. And the requirement for this measure is clear: you must prove that you were in Spain before January 1, 2026. It is not those who arrive who are regularized, but those who are already here — people who have been working and living in our neighborhoods for years, often without any formal right to recognize it.But, beyond the controversy, is it a good measure? Most of these people already work, but in the underground economy, without paying contributions or having labor rights. Regularization does not create new labor – it is already there – but rather removes it from precariousness and incorporates it into Social Security. Several studies find that the fiscal impact of immigration is "clearly positive": they contribute more than they receive. Giving papers to people who are already here is also the most effective way to know who they are and where they are. And, finally, a society that benefits from someone's work without recognizing any rights is an exploitative society. At a time when Europe is toughening its migration policies, Sánchez is going against the current.

The extraordinary regularization of migrants that in recent days has left Although specialists criticize the lack of transparency regarding how many people are interned, in 2024 a total of 1,863 people passed through these detention centres, according to the latest report from the Jesuit Migrant Service. Among them were 85 women and 853 applicants for international protection, and almost half were not repatriated, according to the entity. The same entity denounced in the report the lack of public information to periodically know data on internment.

The queues to carry out the procedures for the extraordinary regularization of migrants are not subsiding. Around the Citizen Attention Office (OAC) in Plaça de Sant Miquel in Barcelona, next to the City Hall, dozens of people are waiting this Friday with their sleeping bags after spending the night on the street to get the necessary documentation as soon as possible to complete the process of obtaining residence and a work permit in order. The line, up to a kilometer long, passes behind the consistory and winds through Carrer dels Templers and Plaça de Sant Jaume. Most people are carrying folders with documentation, as well as bags with food and water, prepared to spend hours there until their turn comes.

"Submitting the documents for regularization is the first step to being able to continue growing here with stability and calm." This is how Xavier, from Venezuela, explains the opportunity that regularization as an asylum seeker would mean for him. In front of the Post Office in Plaça del Doctor Letamendi in Barcelona – enabled for in-person processing since this Monday – the 31-year-old explains that he has already managed to submit all the documentation. Xavier arrived in Spain almost a year ago and, once settled in the Catalan capital, sees the approval of extraordinary regularization as another step to continue working without having to worry about his papers. A process he undertook alone. "You have to read everything very well and bring the necessary documents, but in my case it has been quite easy and quick," says Xavier.

While most authorized Post Offices are attending without remarkable incidents and by strict prior appointment migrant people who can carry out the paperwork regularization in person since this Monday, long queues are multiplying in the services that the city councils have set up to speed up mandatory procedures. Since Thursday the 16th, applications can also be made online, but it is this Monday that in-person procedures have opened. The delay in the publication of the required documents has meant that today the bulk of the 150,000 beneficiaries estimated for Catalonia are still pending to collect all the necessary documentation.In L'Hospitalet, the queue goes around the enormous La Farga building, where the social vulnerability report and the municipal population register certificate are processed. The City Council expects to attend to 1,500 people today out of the 27,000 who already live in the municipality. The first applicants began to arrive before midnight this Sunday. The sisters Sandra and María, Colombians who have resided in the city for three years and seven months, have been waiting since 4 in the morning. "If they had told us from the beginning that we needed the vulnerability, three-quarters of those of us who are here today would already have the report," they lament, without being sure that officials can respond to everyone in the queue today.