Spain’s dependency-care industry has moved quickly to capitalise on the government’s new extraordinary regularisation scheme for undocumented migrants. On 22 February the Federación Empresarial de la Dependencia (FED) announced that care-home operators and home-help agencies can absorb up to 160,000 of the 500,000 people expected to obtain residence and work permits under the decree that enters into force in April.
Sector leaders told Euro Weekly News that chronic labour shortages already leave thousands of beds empty and home-support hours unfilled. Regularised migrants would be offered indefinite contracts, full social-security coverage and training pathways leading to Spain’s official Certificado de Profesionalidad in geriatric care. In return, employers hope to stabilise staffing levels and reduce their growing reliance on temporary agencies.
Industry bodies – and several regional governments that co-finance long-term-care places – welcome the proposal as a fast way to safeguard services for Spain’s rapidly ageing population: by 2030 one in four Spaniards will be over 65. Business-immigration advisers say the plan also creates a large, immediately reachable talent pool for multinationals that operate private elderly-care chains in Spain, such as DomusVi and Orpea, which currently recruit in Latin America and Eastern Europe.
![Spain’s Care-Home Federation Offers 160,000 Posts to Migrants Granted Extraordinary Regularisation]()
Whether you’re an employer moving healthcare professionals, an investor flying in to assess opportunities, or a family accompanying elderly relatives, VisaHQ can streamline the paperwork. Its Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) lets users check visa requirements, generate application packs and track submissions online, ensuring newcomers arrive with the correct documentation before starting work or care placements.
Critics, however, warn that rushing tens of thousands of newcomers into front-line roles could compromise care quality if language skills and cultural training are neglected. FED president Ignacio Fernández-Cid has called on the Ministry of Social Rights to fund accelerated Spanish-language programmes and require a minimum 200-hour induction before migrants work unsupervised.
For global-mobility managers the announcement is a reminder that Spain’s regularisation is not merely a humanitarian exercise: it is reshaping local labour markets. Companies sending staff to Spain to oversee care-industry investments, or relocating executives whose elderly dependants may need placements, should monitor how quickly the new workforce is accredited and whether regional authorities adjust staffing ratios or inspection regimes in response.
Sector leaders told Euro Weekly News that chronic labour shortages already leave thousands of beds empty and home-support hours unfilled. Regularised migrants would be offered indefinite contracts, full social-security coverage and training pathways leading to Spain’s official Certificado de Profesionalidad in geriatric care. In return, employers hope to stabilise staffing levels and reduce their growing reliance on temporary agencies.
Industry bodies – and several regional governments that co-finance long-term-care places – welcome the proposal as a fast way to safeguard services for Spain’s rapidly ageing population: by 2030 one in four Spaniards will be over 65. Business-immigration advisers say the plan also creates a large, immediately reachable talent pool for multinationals that operate private elderly-care chains in Spain, such as DomusVi and Orpea, which currently recruit in Latin America and Eastern Europe.
Whether you’re an employer moving healthcare professionals, an investor flying in to assess opportunities, or a family accompanying elderly relatives, VisaHQ can streamline the paperwork. Its Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/) lets users check visa requirements, generate application packs and track submissions online, ensuring newcomers arrive with the correct documentation before starting work or care placements.
Critics, however, warn that rushing tens of thousands of newcomers into front-line roles could compromise care quality if language skills and cultural training are neglected. FED president Ignacio Fernández-Cid has called on the Ministry of Social Rights to fund accelerated Spanish-language programmes and require a minimum 200-hour induction before migrants work unsupervised.
For global-mobility managers the announcement is a reminder that Spain’s regularisation is not merely a humanitarian exercise: it is reshaping local labour markets. Companies sending staff to Spain to oversee care-industry investments, or relocating executives whose elderly dependants may need placements, should monitor how quickly the new workforce is accredited and whether regional authorities adjust staffing ratios or inspection regimes in response.
