The Spanish government moves forward with a massive regularization of illegal immigrants

The Spanish Government, led by the socialist Pedro Sánchez, reactivated this week the negotiations to promote the Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP) that would allow the regularization of about 470,000 illegal immigrants in the country.

This is the largest proposal of its kind since 2005 and, according to its promoters, seeks to recognize the "reality of thousands of people who already reside and work in the country without papers." However, the project is not without criticism and has raised concerns about its possible negative effects on the immigration system, the labor market, and social cohesion.

Driven by far-left groups, the initiative had been frozen for more than a year in the Congress of Deputies, until in September 2024 the Congress Board decided to unblock its legislative processing, allowing the parliamentary debate to advance.

The current text, presented by the socialist parliamentary group, contemplates a “unique authorization for exceptional circumstances” to regularize those who were already in Spanish territory before December 31, 2024.

From critical sectors, it is warned that a measure of this magnitude could act as a pull factor, encouraging new waves of undocumented individuals. Additionally, there is concern about the lack of thorough controls over compliance with the prior residence criterion, which could open the door to fraud or lax administrative processes.

There is also the risk of disincentivizing legal entry routes into the country. This regularization could be interpreted as a signal that it is enough to enter and remain illegally in the country to end up being recognized by the Spanish State.

The precedent of the mass regularization of 2005, which was harshly criticized both nationally and at the European level, serves as a warning about the logistical, social, and economic challenges that such measures can entail.

Meanwhile, the Government defends the proposal as a "humanitarian gesture" and of "social justice," the opposition and various analysts warn that the debate can't hide the negative structural consequences that regularizing almost half a million illegal immigrants would imply.