Overview
- The Council of Ministers approved a draft decree to modify Spain’s immigration rules, but it remains in consultation and is not yet in force.
- Applications are expected to run from early April to June 30 for residents present before December 31, 2025 who can prove five months’ continuous stay, granting a one-year work-and-residence permit nationwide before shifting to ordinary pathways.
- Authorities estimate roughly 500,000 people—largely from Latin America—could qualify, while unions and employers say formalization would surface existing jobs and ease shortages in sectors like agriculture and construction.
- Reports highlight proliferating paid ‘legal assistance’ offers and heavy demand for documents, with queues at consulates and Morocco’s missions in Spain extending hours to handle requests.
- Lawyers warn that exclusions for final criminal convictions and a broad ‘public order, security or public health’ test risk arbitrary denials, as EU institutions and several member states scrutinize the plan’s wider implications.