Spain finalises amnesty measures to give legal status to up to 500,000 immigrants

Key Points:

• Spain's government has finalized a migrant amnesty allowing hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants to apply for legal residency and work permits, with applications opening in April.
• The measure, differing from many European countries' restrictive immigration policies, aims to integrate immigrants living and working in Spain under equal conditions, emphasizing both rights and obligations.
• Approximately 500,000 to 800,000 undocumented immigrants, many from Latin America and Africa working in key sectors, could be eligible if they arrived before January 1 and have lived in Spain for at least five months without a criminal record.
• The amnesty was fast-tracked via a decree to bypass parliament, where previous attempts stalled, reflecting the government's priority on managing migration to support Spain's economic growth and welfare system.
• Spain has a history of granting immigrant amnesties, having done so six times between 1986 and 2005, highlighting a longstanding approach to addressing undocumented migration.