Spain will legalize about 300 thousand undocumented migrants per year starting in May and until 2027, the country’s Minister of Immigration said this Wednesday.
The policy aims to expand Spain’s aging workforce and allow Foreigners living in the country without proper documentation obtain work and residence permits.
Spain has largely remained open to receiving migrants, even as other European nations seek to toughen their borders on illegal crossings and asylum seekers.
Spain needs around 250 thousand registered foreign workers per year to maintain its welfare state, said the Minister of Inclusion, Migration and Social Security, Elma Saiz, in an interview this Wednesday.
He argued that the legalization policy is not directed solely at cultural wealth and respect for human rights, but also means prosperity.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has often described his government’s migration policies as a means to combat the country’s low birth rate. In August, Sánchez visited three West African nations with the idea of addressing the issue of irregular migration to Spain’s Canary Islands.
The archipelago off the coast of Africa is seen by many people as a step towards continental Europe, and young people from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and other places they travel to it on dangerous sea journeys in search of better job opportunities abroad or fleeing violence and political instability in their countries of origin.
The new policy, approved this Tuesday by the left-wing minority coalition government, simplifies administrative procedures for short- and long-term visas and provides additional labor protections to migrants, It also extends to one year a visa that was previously only offered for three months.
By mid-November, some 54,000 undocumented migrants had arrived in Spain this year by sea or land, according to the Ministry of the Interior. The exact number of foreigners living in the country without documentation is unknown.
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Many irregular migrants make a living in Spain’s underground economy as fruit pickers, caretakers, delivery drivers or other low-paid but essential jobs, which the Spanish often do not want.
Because they do not have legal protections, they may be vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Saiz said the new policy would help prevent such abuses and would serve to combat mafias, fraud and violation of rights.
Spain’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the European Union this year, driven in part by immigration and a strong rebound in tourism after the pandemic.
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