By Léa Marchal, 29 January 2026

 

BRUSSELS - Spain wants to regularise half a million undocumented migrants. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe is busy toughening migration rules. Is Spain the very last country on the continent to have a positive message around migration?

 

Spain wants to regularise half a million undocumented migrants.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of Europe is busy toughening migration rules.

 

Is Spain the very last country on the continent to have a positive message around migration?

 

The measure is the result of negotiations between the socialist government and the main leftist parties in Spain.

 

And while the main opposition party, the PP, doesn’t fully agree with the idea of regularising five hundred thousand undocumented migrants, its support is not required, because the measure will not need Congress’s approval. So it’s kind of a done deal.

 

In concrete terms, it means that irregular migrants will be able to submit a request for a residence permit until the end of June this year. After which, authorities will regularize their situation, 

 

as long as they don’t have a criminal record and have been in Spain before the end of 2025.

 

This will allow a huge number of people to quickly access the Spanish labour market, which is suffering from a labour shortage, especially in low- and mid-skilled sectors. 

 

This will also have a direct impact on the Spanish pension system, which is well under pressure.

 

Meanwhile, in Europe, countries are following a completely different path.

 

Here is one recent example: Belgium, Austria, and Germany are pushing for the possibility of returning irregular Afghan migrants, and this, even though the EU considers that the Taliban regime is not respectful of basic human rights.

 

More broadly, over the past few years, EU member states have been discussing ways to limit the presence of migrants on the continent.

 

For instance, by creating return hubs — or rather return centres — outside the EU.

 

With the case of Ukrainians excluded, there doesn’t seem to be a single EU decision that goes in the direction of facilitating migration flows.

 

Today, the European Commission should present a new migration strategy that should, among other things, advocate for stronger borders.

 

Looking now at individual governments’ positions, we can see that among the last three socialist governments present in the EU, only Spain takes a positive stance towards migration.

 

Denmark and Malta, both led by socialist prime ministers, have had a hard line on migration for quite some years.

 

Spain’s decision stands in stark contrast to the rest of Europe.

 

And indeed, looking at past similar measures of regularisation, it’s actually hard to find an equivalent.

 

The daily Spanish newspaper El País has searched for other such examples in Europe. Countries like Italy, Portugal, or Greece decided on regularisations in the years around 2020 to meet labour needs, but on a much smaller scale in each case.

 

Spain has specific demographic needs that make the regularisation sensible, no doubt. But so do many European countries whose populations are ageing.

 

However, the trend across the continent is rather to limit migration flows as much as possible. And this trend is set to continue as extreme-right parties are getting closer to power, if not already in the driving seat.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/31 January 2026 - - -