{"id":4387,"date":"2026-04-14T13:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T13:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/4387\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T13:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T13:59:11","slug":"spains-government-approves-amnesty-that-could-apply-to-around-half-a-million-illegal-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/4387\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain&#8217;s government approves amnesty that could apply to around half-a-million illegal immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SPAIN\u2019S Council of Ministers approved an amnesty on Tuesday which means an estimated 500,000 people are now eligible for legalisation.<\/p>\n<p>Undocumented migrants who meet certain conditions can now apply for a one-year residency and work permit.<\/p>\n<p>The measure will affect people living in Spain for at least five months and who applied for international protection before December 31 2025.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"490\" height=\"327\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Elma-Saiz-490x327.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-411068\" style=\"width:606px;height:auto\"  \/>ELMA SAIZ<\/p>\n<p>Verification will be produced via \u2018public or private documents\u2019 according to Migration Minister, Elma Saiz.<\/p>\n<p>Saiz said migrants could begin applying in person on April 20 and online from Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Applicants must also show that they have no criminal record, the government stated.<\/p>\n<p>Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, hailed the measure as \u2018an act of justice and a necessity\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>He reiterated his government\u2019s position that people who already live and work in Spain should \u2018do so under equal conditions\u2019 and pay taxes.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">El Consejo de Ministros aprobar\u00e1 hoy el Real Decreto que da inicio al proceso de regularizaci\u00f3n extraordinaria de personas en situaci\u00f3n irregular en nuestro pa\u00eds.<\/p>\n<p>Un acto de normalizaci\u00f3n, de reconocer la realidad de casi medio mill\u00f3n de personas que ya forman parte de nuestra\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Es9il0KE59\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/Es9il0KE59<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pedro S\u00e1nchez (@sanchezcastejon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sanchezcastejon\/status\/2043955258640957784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe recognise rights, but we also demand obligations,\u201d he commented on social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNeither technology nor automation will solve this challenge on their own in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe path is clear: better integration, better organisation, and channelling the full potential of those who already live among us,\u201d Sanchez said.<\/p>\n<p>Opponents say the amnesty will encourage more irregular immigration.<\/p>\n<p>Around 840,000 undocumented migrants lived in Spain at the beginning of 2025, most of them Latin American, according to the Funcas think-tank.<\/p>\n<p>Spain has granted amnesty to illegal immigrants on six previous occasions between 1986 and 2005.<\/p>\n<p>Click here to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theolivepress.es\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spain News<\/a> from The Olive Press.<\/p>\n<p>    <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPAIN\u2019S Council of Ministers approved an amnesty on Tuesday which means an estimated 500,000 people are now eligible&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3185,2998,59,60,205,17,3186,62],"class_list":{"0":"post-4387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-illegal-immigrants-in-spain","9":"tag-national-news","10":"tag-news-spain","11":"tag-newspaper","12":"tag-pedro-sanchez","13":"tag-spain","14":"tag-spains-migrant-amnesty-approved","15":"tag-the-olive-press"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}