Columnist Asbel Bohigues argues in El Obrero that Spain’s forthcoming legalisation of roughly half a million undocumented migrants follows a well-trodden path rather than a radical departure from European norms. Since the 1980s, Spain has implemented at least six mass regularisations, the largest in 2005 when 578,000 people obtained papers.
The author highlights economic drivers—ageing demographics and persistent vacancies in agriculture, domestic work and construction—as key motivators. Bohigues contends that past amnesties boosted social-security revenue and did not lead to significant pull factors once border-control investments were maintained. Pointing to Italy, Portugal and Greece, the piece notes that episodic regularisations are common across Southern Europe.
Critics, mainly on Spain’s political right, label the 2026 decree ‘extreme’ and fear secondary movements to France or Germany. The article counters that the EU’s Dublin rules already obligate destination states to return regularised migrants to the issuing country, limiting onward migration.
![Analysis: Spain’s 2026 Regularisation Is Neither Extreme Nor Unprecedented]()
At a practical level, VisaHQ’s online visa and residency services can help employers, migrants and advisers keep pace with Spain’s shifting requirements by offering step-by-step application support, document checks and real-time status updates; you can explore the options at https://www.visahq.com/spain/
For global-mobility professionals, the commentary provides historical context that can help reassure executives concerned about reputational risk or sudden regulatory U-turns. It also suggests that Spain is likely to combine the amnesty with stricter enforcement against new irregular arrivals, maintaining overall policy balance.
The analysis concludes that, while challenges remain—chiefly administrative capacity and fraud prevention—the regularisation sits within a recognised European strategy of periodic status normalisation to meet labour and integration goals.
The author highlights economic drivers—ageing demographics and persistent vacancies in agriculture, domestic work and construction—as key motivators. Bohigues contends that past amnesties boosted social-security revenue and did not lead to significant pull factors once border-control investments were maintained. Pointing to Italy, Portugal and Greece, the piece notes that episodic regularisations are common across Southern Europe.
Critics, mainly on Spain’s political right, label the 2026 decree ‘extreme’ and fear secondary movements to France or Germany. The article counters that the EU’s Dublin rules already obligate destination states to return regularised migrants to the issuing country, limiting onward migration.
At a practical level, VisaHQ’s online visa and residency services can help employers, migrants and advisers keep pace with Spain’s shifting requirements by offering step-by-step application support, document checks and real-time status updates; you can explore the options at https://www.visahq.com/spain/
For global-mobility professionals, the commentary provides historical context that can help reassure executives concerned about reputational risk or sudden regulatory U-turns. It also suggests that Spain is likely to combine the amnesty with stricter enforcement against new irregular arrivals, maintaining overall policy balance.
The analysis concludes that, while challenges remain—chiefly administrative capacity and fraud prevention—the regularisation sits within a recognised European strategy of periodic status normalisation to meet labour and integration goals.
