Spain is Opening Doors to Undocumented Immigrants: 500,000 People to be Naturalized
On Tuesday, the Spanish Government announced that it will naturalize potentially hundreds of thousands of immigrants living and working in the country without documents or authorization. With this exemplary policy update, Spain’s government has given a fitting rebuttal to the major trends of the increasingly harsher immigration policies imposed in the United States and the rest of Europe.
The government intends to implement this measure by expediting a decree to amend immigration laws. The step will proceed through bypassing a similar bill that got stalled in the parliament. According to the bill, the eligible immigrants will be granted up to one year of legal residency along with lawful permission to work.
In a fundamental contrast to other European nations and even the U.S., Spain has clearly reformed its immigration amendment for the benefit of immigrants and not the other way around. The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, and his ministers have shown erudite diplomacy in extolling the benefits of legal migration to the country’s overall welfare.
This is why our EB-1A experts believe that this is an important piece of news in the international immigration landscape.
What did Spain’s government tell the journalists about this new policy?
In the context of this major immigration announcement, Elma Saiz Delgado, the minister of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, reportedly told the journalists during a press conference: “Spain will not look the other way.” She added, the Government is already “Dignifying and recognizing people who are already in our country.”
According to reported estimates, the new reform could benefit an estimated 500,000 people living in Spain without any prior authorization. A few other miscellaneous estimates suggested that up to 800,000 undocumented people may be living within Spain. Many of these undocumented immigrants are either from Latin America or miscellaneous African countries, involved in a myriad of professions, including agriculture, tourism, and much more.
The benefits of this policy will apply to Foreigners who arrived in Spain before Dec. 31, 2025. They need to demonstrate that they have been living in the country for at least five months without any criminal record.
According to Saiz, the eligible can start applying for naturalization from April through the end of June. In the press conference, she has also assured that resources will be in place to ensure smooth naturalization.
How the policy will bring benefits for immigrants and the economy
Though this is exceptional news amidst the attitude taken by other nations to immigration, it is certainly not the first time Spain has granted amnesty to undocumented immigrants. On the other hand, Spain has implemented this type of naturalization around six times previously, between 1986 and 2005. And, each time, it not only brought benefits to the immigrants but also contributed significantly to the nation’s overall economy.
Anna Terrón Cusi, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, expressed the following opinion: “There was a strong impact on the workforce, not only legalizing the status of workers but creating formal jobs.”
According to her, the measure will allow Spain to “reset the counter” ahead of the incoming new European migration and asylum pact. She remarked that the incoming pact will rely heavily on deportations as a solution to irregular migration, but Spain will take a more inclusive approach. Terrón voiced her confidence in how the policy will benefit the Spanish economy while including all the immigrant workers within the rubric of the nation’s welfare: “In the end, telling people that immigration is bad may appeal to them, but deporting the woman who cleans their house is a different story.”
Spain’s approach to immigration captured headlines by being heterodox and unconventional. Time will be the judge of whether the policy will be effective or whether the immigrants will experience a smooth transition to naturalization.
At GCEB1, our EB-1A consultancy is staying updated and attuned to all the major updates and changes in the immigration landscape. Our blogs might be an effective resource if you are looking to stay informed on all the latest insights on world immigration.
We wish you an informed and stress-free immigration journey ahead.
Sources & Further Readings
- Reuters. “Spain to Grant around Half a Million Undocumented Migrants Legal Status.” Reuters, January 27, 2026.
- Deutsche Welle.“Spain to Grant Legal Status to 500,000 Undocumented Migrants. DW, January 27, 2026.
- BBC News. “Spain to Regularise Undocumented Migrants and Grant Legal Status" BBC News, January 27, 2026
