Madrid, Spain – Badr Tmairi, 22, from Morocco, has lived in Spain for six years without legal status. Arriving alone at 16, he briefly held residency after turning 18 but lost it when he failed to renew in time.
"What I want is to get my papers back so I can work as a hairdresser and travel to visit my family in Morocco," he said.
Tmairi is among more than a million people who applied for regularisation under Spain's new scheme—a stark contrast to tightening European immigration policies. He has been homeless for the past year, unable to find work or housing without documents.
"It's encouraging that so many applied, but that huge number also shows the state has failed to protect the most vulnerable," said Edith Espinola, president of the Active Domestic Workers' Service Association (SEDOAC) and spokesperson for Regularizacion Ya.
The collective, formed by migrants, has pushed for regularisation since 2020, backed by civil society, the Catholic Church, unions, and businesses. Living without status, Espinola said, condemns people to social exclusion.
The initiative, Spain's first such process since 2005, opened in April and closed on June 30. The government has three months to resolve most applications. Of 1,174,978 filed, only 11,000 have been resolved favourably so far. About 608,000 have been accepted for processing, granting provisional residency and work permits.
"All I want is to work," said Rocio Neciosupe, 54, a Peruvian migrant without legal status for two years. A cleaner in private homes, she is recovering from a back injury sustained at work. Without documents, she has no sick leave rights.
"I want to support the country I live in, and if the country grows, we grow too," she added.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez framed the measure as essential for economic growth, noting that by 2050, Spain's GDP would be 19% lower without immigration. Gonzalo Fanjul, director of ISGlobal's policy team, said the approach shows an alternative path amid rising anti-migration sentiment in Europe.
"The system has been reset, but none of the underlying reasons have been resolved. For the state to open legal, safe channels for labour mobility is simply common sense," he said.
The regularisation process is ongoing. "We will remain vigilant to ensure the more than a million applications are processed properly," Espinola concluded.