Spain to legalise undocumented immigrants

Move will help country expand its ageing workforce

Migrants arrive at the harbour in Los Cristianos, Tenerife, in Spain, on November 18. EPA

About 300,000 undocumented immigrants in Spain are set to be granted residency and work permits, Elma Saiz, the country's Migration Minister, said on Wednesday.

The policy will take effect in May and will be repeated each year for the next three years as Spain looks to expand the country’s ageing workforce. The country has remained largely open to receiving immigrants as other European nations seek to tighten their borders to block illegal crossings and asylum seekers.

Ms Saiz said on Wednesday that Spain needs about 250,000 registered foreign workers a year to maintain its welfare state. She said the legalisation policy is not aimed solely at “cultural wealth and respect for human rights, it’s also prosperity".

“Today, we can say Spain is a better country,” she told national broadcaster Radio Nacional de Espana.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has often described his government's migration policies as a means to deal with the country's low birth rate.

The policy, approved on Tuesday by Mr Sanchez's leftist minority coalition government, simplifies administrative procedures for short and long-term visas and provides immigrants with more labour protection. It extends a visa previously offered to job-seekers for three months to one year.

In August, Mr Sanchez visited three West African nations to try to address irregular immigration to Spain’s Canary Islands.

The archipelago off the coast of Africa is seen by many as a step towards continental Europe, with young men from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and elsewhere embarking on dangerous sea voyages seeking better job opportunities abroad or fleeing violence and political instability at home.

By mid-November, about 54,000 immigrants had reached Spain this year by sea or land, according to the country's Interior Ministry. The exact number of people living in Spain illegally is not clear.

Migrant arrivals in Spain - in pictures

Many such immigrants make a living in Spain's underground economy as fruit pickers, caretakers, delivery drivers, or other low-paid but essential jobs often passed over by Spaniards.

Without legal protection, they can be vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Ms Saiz said the new policy would help to prevent abuse and "combat mafias, fraud and the violation of rights".

Spain's economy is among the fastest-growing in the EU this year, boosted in part by a strong rebound in tourism after the pandemic. In 2023, Spain issued 1.3 million visas to undocumented immigrants, the government said.