Spain to Legalize 300,000 Illegal Immigrants Every Year Under New Reforms

Spain will grant legal status to 300,000 illegal immigrants every year under new migration reform legislation passed on Tuesday aimed at bolstering the country’s labor force and sustaining economic growth.
The policy approved by the country’s leftist minority coalition government will begin the legalization process next May and run it through 2027.
Elsewhere under the reforms, administrative procedures for short and long-term visas will be streamlined and simplified while migrants will be allowed to register either as self-employed or salaried workers, and will be provided with additional labor protections and rights.
Additionally, the legislation extends a visa offered previously to job-seekers for three months to one year while migrants with a study visa could be allowed to work up to 30 hours per week.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Spain’s Migration Minister, Elma Saiz, said the new measures will bolster human rights, and help combat mafias, fraud and the violation of rights while simultaneously helping Spain achieve “cultural wealth.”
However, Saiz also acknowledged the new policy is largely aimed at expanding Spain’s labor force amid an aging native-born population.
“Spain has to opt between being an open, prosperous country or being a closed and poor one, and we have chosen the former,” Saiz said.
Spain’s aging population poses serious challenges to economic growth as the country continues to struggle with ongoing labor shortages, particularly across the services sector, in the wake of the pandemic.