The Socialist Workers’ Party in Spain has moved forward on plans to grant amnesty to 500,000 illegal migrants in the country. The country’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said in a statement that the Council of Ministers will approve the plan.
“The Council of Ministers will approve today the Royal Decree that initiates the process of extraordinary regularization of people in an irregular situation in our country,” he wrote on X on April 14. “An act of normalization, of recognizing the reality of nearly half a million people who already form part of our daily life. And, also, an act of justice and a necessity. We recognize rights, but we also demand obligations. That those who already form part of our day-to-day do so under equal conditions, contributing to the sustenance of our country and our model of coexistence. Today, once again, I feel proud to be Spanish.”
According to a translation of the document shared by Sanchez, the amnesty plan recognizes the “reality of almost half a million people who are already part of our daily lives.” Sanchez added, “It is also an act of justice toward our own history.”
“This regularization is not just an act of justice,” the letter noted. “It is also a necessity. Spain, like other European countries, is aging. Without new people working and contributing to the system, our prosperity slows, our capacity to innovate weakens, and our public services–healthcare, pensions, education–suffer.”
Sanchez acknowledged that “migration poses challenges,” emphasizing that it would be “impossible to deny it.” He argued that “integration is only possible through regularization.”
