Spain legalizes up to 500,000 undocumented migrants

Spain’s Socialist-led government approved a royal decree on Tuesday, allowing unauthorized immigrants who entered the country before the end of 2025 and who have lived there for at least five months and have no criminal record to obtain one-year residency and work permits with possible pathways to citizenship.

While many European governments have moved to tighten immigration policies — some encouraged by the Trump administration’s hardline approach — Spain has taken a different path. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his ministers have repeatedly highlighted what they describe as the economic benefits of legal migration, particularly for the country’s aging workforce.