Overview
- The application window closed on Tuesday, June 30, and media outlets plus the immigration officers' union, citing the Mercurio platform, reported roughly 1.27–1.3 million submissions while the government had not yet formally confirmed that total.
- Authorities have up to three months to decide each case and had already marked about 360,000 applications as admissible by mid-June, leaving large backlogs for verification and issuance of one-year renewable residence and work permits.
- Non-governmental organisations ran a last-minute push to file incomplete cases before the deadline and warned that document delays, consular bottlenecks and missing apostilles mean an estimated 20% of applications could be rejected.
- The unexpectedly high take-up has sharpened domestic political conflict and produced tense exchanges with other EU governments, including reported disputes with Italy's prime minister over how the bloc should manage migration.
- If many applications are ultimately approved, Spain could regularise large numbers of workers in tourism, agriculture and care and widen the tax and social-security base, while administrative strain and fraud concerns may prompt tighter checks and shape Brussels' response.