While Spain’s nationwide amnesty grabs headlines, municipal authorities are already grappling with implementation. On Friday, Barcelona’s mayor Jaume Collboni announced that at least 24,000 undocumented foreign nationals living in the Catalan capital should be immediately eligible for the new decree. That figure, drawn from social-services data, is considered a floor; officials believe the true number could be far higher once word spreads through migrant communities.
To cope, the city and the central-government delegate in Catalonia have created an inter-administrative task-force that will start work on Monday. Its brief is to map high-density migrant districts, deploy multilingual outreach teams, and streamline the notoriously slow appointment system at foreigners’ offices. Collboni said the city would draw on experience from earlier regularisations to guide applicants through paperwork, background-check certification and digital fingerprints. A special help-desk, staffed by immigration lawyers and NGO volunteers, will open at city hall, and pop-up clinics are planned in markets and community centres.
Business groups in the Barcelona metropolitan area—home to Spain’s largest start-up hub and a thriving hospitality scene—have welcomed the initiative. The employers’ association PIMEC told EL PAÍS that labour shortages in caregiving, logistics and construction have forced companies to hire off-the-books, exposing them to fines and insurance risks. By accelerating regularisation, the city hopes to fill vacancies legally and cut abuses such as wage theft and unsafe working conditions.
![Barcelona sets up fast-track unit as city estimates 24,000 locals will qualify for Spain’s migrant regularisation]()
For foreign workers and employers who still need to navigate Spain’s broader visa and work-permit system, VisaHQ can streamline the paperwork. Through its dedicated Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/), the service offers personalised guidance, document verification and application tracking, helping applicants avoid common errors and save valuable time as they transition to legal status.
Politically, the measure passed the city council with support from the PSC, En Comú Podem and ERC, while the conservative PP and far-right Vox voted against. Councillors also approved a motion condemning racism and recognising the cultural and economic contribution of migrants to Barcelona’s growth.
For employers, the immediate takeaway is practical: begin compiling contracts and payslips for workers who have been on the informal payroll so they can demonstrate "effective integration"—a factor that speeds processing. HR teams should also budget for the mandatory €15 application fee per employee and factor in social-security contributions once permits are issued. Migrant advocates, meanwhile, urge the city to ensure legal-aid funding keeps pace with demand; they note that a surge of applicants in 2005 led to month-long appointment backlogs and document scams.
To cope, the city and the central-government delegate in Catalonia have created an inter-administrative task-force that will start work on Monday. Its brief is to map high-density migrant districts, deploy multilingual outreach teams, and streamline the notoriously slow appointment system at foreigners’ offices. Collboni said the city would draw on experience from earlier regularisations to guide applicants through paperwork, background-check certification and digital fingerprints. A special help-desk, staffed by immigration lawyers and NGO volunteers, will open at city hall, and pop-up clinics are planned in markets and community centres.
Business groups in the Barcelona metropolitan area—home to Spain’s largest start-up hub and a thriving hospitality scene—have welcomed the initiative. The employers’ association PIMEC told EL PAÍS that labour shortages in caregiving, logistics and construction have forced companies to hire off-the-books, exposing them to fines and insurance risks. By accelerating regularisation, the city hopes to fill vacancies legally and cut abuses such as wage theft and unsafe working conditions.
For foreign workers and employers who still need to navigate Spain’s broader visa and work-permit system, VisaHQ can streamline the paperwork. Through its dedicated Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/), the service offers personalised guidance, document verification and application tracking, helping applicants avoid common errors and save valuable time as they transition to legal status.
Politically, the measure passed the city council with support from the PSC, En Comú Podem and ERC, while the conservative PP and far-right Vox voted against. Councillors also approved a motion condemning racism and recognising the cultural and economic contribution of migrants to Barcelona’s growth.
For employers, the immediate takeaway is practical: begin compiling contracts and payslips for workers who have been on the informal payroll so they can demonstrate "effective integration"—a factor that speeds processing. HR teams should also budget for the mandatory €15 application fee per employee and factor in social-security contributions once permits are issued. Migrant advocates, meanwhile, urge the city to ensure legal-aid funding keeps pace with demand; they note that a surge of applicants in 2005 led to month-long appointment backlogs and document scams.
