Record 900,000 migrant regularization applications filed in Spain, doubling government forecast

A record surge

The Spanish government has received 900,000 applications from migrants seeking to regularize their status, a number that already exceeds any previous regularization process in the country. By comparison, the last mass regularization in 2005 drew 691,655 requests, with 576,506 permits ultimately granted. The current process, launched in April 2026, aims to bring irregular workers into the formal economy and grant them residency and work rights. As of today, 360,000 applications have been formally admitted for processing, though the full approval process can take up to three months.

Initial forecast500,000

Current applications900,000

Initial forecast

500000 applications

Current applications

900000 applications

Data from the article text

Government caught off guard

When Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration Elma Saiz first outlined the plan, she estimated around 500,000 irregular migrants might be eligible. The actual figure stands nearly double that, feeding criticism from police unions who say their internal projections were far more accurate. The Sindicato Unificado de Policía (SUP) noted that technical reports from the General Commissariat of Immigration and Borders had predicted similar numbers.

“The data now known shows that police forecasts were much closer to reality than the official estimates used to justify the initial planning of the process.”

A contentious political backdrop

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has made the regularization a central plank of his government’s final legislative push, using it to project a progressive image. The policy followed an extensive campaign by immigrant advocacy groups, who gathered 700,000 signatures for a citizens’ legislative initiative. While business leaders, unions and the Catholic Church backed the move, the conservative People’s Party (PP) initially supported the bill before later aligning with the far‑right Vox party, which has demanded “national priority” for Spaniards in public services.

Last‑minute scramble

With the June 30 deadline approaching, the government is urging all eligible individuals to apply even if their paperwork is incomplete, promising later opportunities to rectify errors. Migrants from countries such as Algeria, Cuba, Guinea Conakry and Gambia face particular hurdles in obtaining criminal record certificates, a key requirement. The ministry’s message echoed by NGOs and legal groups is simple: “Que nadie se quede fuera” (Let no one be left out).

What comes next

Once the window closes at the end of June, officials will have three months to process each application. While some provisional work and residence permits have already been issued, the full administrative machinery now faces the challenge of verifying 900,000 dossiers. The government acknowledges the risk of duplicates and incomplete files in the raw count but insists the process is running smoothly.