He has been homeless for the past year. Without documents, finding work and decent housing in Spain is difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very encouraging to know that so many people submitted an application and are trying to regularise their situation, but that huge number is also proof that the state has failed in its duty to protect the most vulnerable,\u201d Edith Espinola, president of the Active Domestic Workers\u2019 Service Association (SEDOAC) and spokesperson for the Regularizacion Ya (Regularisation Now), told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Regularizacion Ya, a collective made up of migrants, has led the push for regularisation since 2020. The measure grew out of a broad social consensus and has been backed by civil society organisations, the Catholic Church, trade unions and business associations.<\/p>\n
Living without legal status, Espinola said, condemns people to social exclusion, as it has for Tmairi. Without rights or protection from abuse, they are unaligned with most of the rest of the population.<\/p>\n
The new initiative, Spain\u2019s first regularisation process since 2005, began in April and closed on June 30. The government now has three months to resolve the vast majority of the applications submitted.<\/p>\n
Of the 1,174,978 applications, according to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, only 11,000 have received a favourable resolution so far. About 608,000 have been accepted for processing, granting provisional residency and work permits until a final resolution.<\/p>\n
\u2018All I want is to work\u2019<\/p>\n
Rocio Neciosupe, 54, is a Peruvian migrant who has spent two years without legal status in Spain. \u201cRegularisation isn\u2019t a handout; all I want is to work. To work without fear and with rights, so that if I fall and I\u2019m sick, I don\u2019t have to go to work that day and can still get paid, like anyone else,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Neciosupe, a cleaner in private homes, is busy across six different buildings around Madrid. But she is currently recovering from a back injury sustained in a fall at work. Without documents or a contract, she has no right to sick leave.<\/p>\n
Unable to afford to lose her income while she recovers, her husband accompanies her to work each day and helps her with tasks she cannot manage alone.<\/p>\n
Rocio, her husband and their two daughters, aged 22 and 17, have all had their regularisation applications accepted for processing and are now awaiting a favourable resolution.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to support the country I live in, and if the country grows, we grow too,\u201d Neciosupe added.<\/p>\n
It is precisely in the contribution and growth potential of people like her that the Spanish government has framed its case for the measure.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy 2050, Spain\u2019s GDP would be 19 percent lower, 90,000 bars would close, 50,000 classrooms would shut and 220,000 farms would disappear,\u201d Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said recently in a public address.<\/p>\n
Gonzalo Fanjul, director of ISGlobal\u2019s policy and development team and head of Research at the porCausa Foundation, said: \u201cIf you look at what\u2019s happening in the United States, there are already estimates of the impact of the government\u2019s violent, hostile anti-migration policies. Whole economic sectors are struggling to keep functioning.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those sectors is care work. With an ageing population, Spain needs trained workers to fill positions in that sector, among others.<\/p>\n
![\"Josselyn](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josselyn-Aguirre-originally-from-Ecuador-works-as-a-carer-for-a-family-in-Madrid-2-1783945381.jpg\")
Josselyn Aguirre, originally from Ecuador, works as a carer for a family in Madrid [Courtesy of Josselyn Aguirre]\u00a0<\/p>\n
Josselyn Aguirre, 32, is one of those workers. A nursing assistant, she migrated from Ecuador to Spain in 2024. Her original plan had been to move to the United States, but her visa application was rejected.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy goal is to stay and help older people. I really enjoy working with them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere, in my country and in other countries around the world, this sector is collapsing due to a shortage of staff. That\u2019s why I believe that being able to regularise your status and contribute as a professional benefits everyone,\u201d she told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Migrants and refugees who applied for regularisation had already been living in Spain, working in the informal economy for years; 57 percent are men, most come from Latin American countries, and six out of 10 are below the age of 34.<\/p>\n
So far, 159,097 additional people have registered with the Social Security system as a result of the regularisation process.<\/p>\n
With this measure, \u201cSpain has made a bet on growth. We\u2019re going to be a country of 50 million people,\u201d Fanjul said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not enough.\u201d<\/p>\n