❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Spanish government is set to approve a decree to regularize 500,000 illegal immigrants.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Migration Minister Elma Saiz and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, VOX leader Santiago Abascal.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The decree will be approved on January 27 in Spain.
💬KEY QUOTE: “500,000 illegals! The tyrant Sánchez hates the Spanish people. He wants to replace them. That’s why he intends to promote the pull effect by decree, to accelerate the invasion. We must stop him. Repatriations, deportations, and remigration.” – Santiago Abascal.
🎯IMPACT: The regularization policy presents a threat to the wider European Union (EU), as once granted legal status by one EU member, migrants can typically move around the borderless Schengen Area even more easily.
Spain’s left-wing government is preparing to approve a decree that would grant amnesty to around 500,000 illegal immigrants, according to Migration Minister Elma Saiz. Speaking on public broadcaster RTVE, Saiz said those covered by the measure would be able to work “in any sector, in any part of the country,” and stressed what she called “the positive impact” of migration.
She added that the policy is about “recognizing and dignifying” people who are already living in Spain. The regularization would apply to migrants who have lived in the country for as little as five months and who applied for international protection before December 31, 2025, as well as their children who are already in Spain. Applications are expected to open in April and run through the end of June.
The leader of Spain’s populist, anti-mass migration VOX party, Santiago Abascal, reacted to the amnesty on X, saying, “500,000 illegals! The tyrant Sánchez hates the Spanish people. He wants to replace them. That’s why he intends to promote the pull effect by decree, to accelerate the invasion. We must stop him. Repatriations, deportations, and remigration.”
The government plans to implement the measure by decree, bypassing parliament, where the Socialist-led governing coalition lacks a majority. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has argued that Spain needs mass migration to fill labor shortages and offset the pressures of an aging population, warning that demographic decline could threaten pensions and the welfare state if left unaddressed—although it is debatable whether the typical migrant is a net contributor to the pensions and welfare systems.
Official crime data and research from the CEU-CEFAS Demographic Observatory suggest that migrants are overrepresented in certain violent crime categories, including rape and homicide, compared with native Spaniards. Those findings have fueled criticism from opposition figures and commentators who argue that large-scale regularization could worsen public safety and strain social services.
Across Europe, migration policy remains deeply divisive. European Union (EU) institutions have simultaneously promoted so-called legal pathways for migrants, including online platforms designed to attract non-EU workers to address labor shortages, while many member states have tightened national controls in response to public backlash. Notably, because of the EU’s borderless Schengen Area, migrants regularized by one member state tend to have easy access to every member state, extending the consequences of Spain’s decision far beyond its borders.
During a 2025 visit to Europe, President Donald J. Trump urged governments on the continent to “get your act together,” warning that “this immigration is killing Europe” and describing what he called a “horrible invasion.”
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