Marrakech – Spain’s extraordinary migrant regularization drive has drawn 900,000 applications with two weeks remaining before the June 30 cutoff – a figure that doubles the government’s initial projections and eclipses every previous regularization effort in the country’s history.
According to Spanish media reports confirmed by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, approximately 360,000 of those applications have been admitted for processing.
The ministry cautioned that the tally remains “still pending filtering” and warned that “duplicates and factors that may provisionally influence the initial data” could exist.
Among those filing applications are Moroccan nationals, with long queues documented at Spain’s Moroccan consulate in Seville and several other cities as applicants rush to complete their paperwork before the window closes.
The Council of Ministers approved the regularization decree on April 14, opening the submission period two days later. The government initially estimated roughly 500,000 beneficiaries.
Internal executive documents, however, acknowledged the figure could reach 750,000 – a threshold now surpassed by a wide margin. Research centers such as Funcas had pegged the potential pool at one million.
The Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR) placed the current application count at one million during a Monday press conference, while noting that duplicates likely inflate the raw number. CEAR’s director general, Mónica López, told reporters that roughly 300,000 applications had been formally admitted – about 30% of those submitted.
She acknowledged processing delays, stating that “the 15 days that were initially mentioned are not being met in most cases.” López attributed the bottleneck to “misinformation” and “lack of knowledge” at the outset, compounded by difficulties in securing appointments and a “scarcity” of administrative resources.
The human toll of bureaucratic delays registered sharply in López’s remarks. “People are experiencing this with a great deal of anxiety, because although they have been waiting a long time, when the regularization process opens, an expectation is also generated,” she told journalists, adding that applicants were promised provisional permits within 15 days – a timeline the system has failed to honor.
Progress, nonetheless, has accelerated. On May 22, the government reported 550,000 applications and 91,000 admissions – a 16% processing rate. That ratio has since climbed to 40%, indicating that administrative machinery has gained momentum.
Ministry sources maintained that “the process is developing with total normality” and confirmed that provisional authorizations were being dispatched across the country.
The regularization has not proceeded without legal challenge. The Commune of Madrid, the far-right party Vox, and several organizations filed appeals before the Supreme Court seeking an emergency suspension of the decree. The tribunal denied that request on May 22, though it has yet to rule on the substance of the challenge.
Spain has conducted six previous extraordinary regularizations. The first, launched by Felipe González in 1986, was followed by three under José María Aznar. The most recent, carried out under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2005, received 691,655 applications and granted 576,506 permits – both figures now exceeded by the current round.
López warned that the final count may climb further, particularly among applicants from countries where obtaining and legalizing documentation proves slow and complex. She called for flexibility should bureaucratic delays prevent some applicants from completing their files by the deadline, floating the possibility of extended timelines or extraordinary measures.
The regularization decree entered the political arena as the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum took effect on June 12, tightening entry conditions and expediting deportation procedures across the bloc – a framework whose full enforcement remains uncertain given the cost and logistical constraints of mass removals.
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