Spain Plans to Grant Legal Status to 500,000 Undocumented Migrants
Brett T. | 8:30 PM on April 18, 2026
Spain's socialist government is getting ready to give more than half a million "undocumented" migrants legal status.
If they're planning to legalize 500,000 migrants, we wonder how many more there are?
The BBC reports:
Spain's government has approved plans to give legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants, allowing them to be integrated formally into the workforce.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described his government's decision as both "an act of justice" and a necessity for Spain.
In a letter to Spaniards posted on social media, Sánchez, a socialist, said the mass legalisation sought "to acknowledge the reality of nearly half a million people who already form part of our everyday lives".
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The government's plan will offer a one-year, renewable residence permit to undocumented migrants. In order to be eligible, applicants must prove that they have already spent five months living in Spain and have a clean criminal record. They have between 16 April and the end of June to apply.
Sánchez said migrants helped "build the rich, open and diverse Spain that we are and to which we aspire".
Did they really? The ones who just got there from Bangladesh 20 months ago.
https://twitchy.com/brettt/2026/04/18/spain-plans-to-grant-legal-status-to-500000-undocumented-migrants-n2427262