Monday January 26th for the Spain it was a historic day: the Council of Ministers approved a measure for the regularization of 500,000 migrants irregular, which would allow the legal recognition and therefore the possibility of working and residing legally in the country, also accessing social security measures. This decree, with strong value symbolic and politicalgoes against the trend of the crackdown on migration made by numerous European countries. It aims to counteract theaging population and give a strong boost toSpanish economy. Second the INEthe Spanish National Institute of Statistics, in fact, were already working in Spain in 2025 3.58 million migrantsequal to 16% of the country’s workforce.
What does the decree consist of and what are the requirements
According to the decree, i requirements for the application for a residence permit are the following:
- Absence of criminal record
- Have arrived in Spain before 31 December 2025
- Demonstrate that you have lived and resided in the country for at least 5 continuous months
On this point the government chaired by Pedro Sanchez clarified that the requirement of residence can be documented not only with registration in the municipal registry office or with rental contracts, but also with the proof of remittance payments sent to families of origin abroad, medical records or medical tests, transport tickets. This is because it often happens that people without documents encounter greater difficulty in registering in the registry office or in having legally valid and demonstrable contracts.
The requests can be presented in the time window from April to June 2026. In case of acceptance of the application, a temporary residence permit with which the applicant will be able to immediately start working legally “from day one in any sector and in any part of the country” and access fundamental serviceslike thehealth care. He will later have a residence permit for one yearrenewable, at the end of which a standard permit may be requested according to normal immigration regulations. Furthermore, the applicant will be able to request the family reunion with their children who will be able to live in the country and reside for an initial period of five years.
In addition to irregular migrants, also those who have presented asylum application before December 31st will be able to benefit from this measure. An important point is that, when the application for regularization is submitted, any repatriation proceedings are suspended or measures of expulsionboth for administrative reasons and for possible irregular work.
The process and approval of the law
This regularization was born from apopular legislative initiative which he had collected approx 700,000 signaturespresented to Parliament ad April 2024 and then supported by PSOE together with Podemos, as well as hundreds of civil society groups.
The government of Pedro Sánchez emphasized the strong valence not only that social and defense of fundamental rights of the person, but also economicalin a country where immigration is a fundamental driver for production. Most of these workers come fromLatin America and from the neighbor North Africaespecially from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Morocco. Furthermore, Spain also struggles with a strong one aging of the population and with a social security system put to the test by this phenomenon.
The measure was approved via royal decreethrough the emergency procedure. A Royal Decree in Spain is one regulatory provision of lower rank than a lawwhich is issued by the Government (Council of Ministers) and approved by the King. It adopts urgent measures, which have immediate application and which halve normal bureaucratic and administrative times, as they do not require parliamentary approval.
This However, it is not the first regularization process carried out in Spain: the first took place during the socialist government of President Felipe Gonzalez (1982-1996); subsequently, under the government of José María Aznar (Partido Popular), three regularization processes were launched, in 1996, 2000 and 2001, benefiting over 520,000 people; while the last one dates back to 2005, under the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (PSOE), and is considered the one that benefited the greatest number of people, over 570,000.
What are the current migration policies in Italy
As regards the our countrythe law that regulates immigration is the Bossi-Fini law of 30 July 2002which has undergone some significant changes in the last ten years:
- The Security Decree or Salvini Decree of 2018 which, among the various measures, abolished humanitarian protection statusconverting it to special protectionaccording to more restrictive requirements than the previous one. In fact, humanitarian protection was activated in special circumstances such as: health reasons, absence of ties with the family of origin, environmental disasters, serious political instability in the countries of origin, violence or violation of human rights.
- The Cutro decree of 2023with whom, among others, she was eliminated the possibility of requesting the conversion of the residence permit for special protection into a residence permit for work reasons.
Furthermore, the government presided over by Giorgia Meloni has empowered the CPR (Repatriation Centers), structures used for management of migratory flowsgiving the go-ahead in 2024 to construction of CPR in Albaniaespecially those of Shëngjin and Gjadër, and which have been at the center of much political debate in 2025. CPRs are structures created to welcome irregular migrants subjected to repatriation proceduresbut in fact there were a few hundred migrants transferred to Albania, then brought back to Italy after the Court of Rome declared the cancellation of the validation of detention in the centers.
Italy’s migration policy is part of a broader European framework, in which the Member States of the Union are supporting increasingly severe measures on immigration, with the entry into force of the new Pact for Migration and Asylumadopted in 2024 and in force from June 2026, which provides for a series of measures strengthening the EU’s external borders; theacceleration of repatriation procedures; list e agreements shared with third countries defined as safe, towards which to send irregular migrants and the creation of external centerssayings hubthrough which to manage incoming flows into Europe.
