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Marrakech – Spain’s extraordinary migrant regularization drive has drawn 900,000 applications with two weeks remaining before the June 30 cutoff. The figure doubles the government’s initial projection of 500,000 beneficiaries and surpasses every previous regularization effort in the country’s history.
Approximately 360,000 of those applications have been admitted for processing, according to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migrations. The ministry cautioned that the tally remains “still pending filtering” and that duplicates may inflate the raw number.
The Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid placed the application count at one million during a press conference on Monday.
Director General Mónica López noted that roughly 300,000 had been formally admitted and acknowledged that the 15-day timeline initially promised for provisional permits “is not being met in most cases.” She attributed the bottleneck to misinformation at the outset, difficulties securing appointments, and a scarcity of administrative resources.
The Council of Ministers approved the regularization decree on April 14 and opened submissions two days later. Applicants must prove presence on Spanish territory before December 31, 2025, and continuous residence of at least five months.
A valid passport, a clean criminal record from the country of origin, and proof of address are mandatory. The application fee stands at approximately €38.
Moroccans stand among the primary beneficiaries. The Moroccan community is the largest non-EU diaspora in Spain, with over one million residents and approximately 969,000 holding Moroccan nationality.
How does Morocco’s consular network support them on the ground?
Estimates place around 125,000 Moroccans – roughly 25% of the initially projected total – as eligible for regularization. Over 300,000 Moroccans already contribute to Spain’s social security system, ranking them among the top foreign contributors to the country’s pension and health insurance funds.
Spanish news outlet Atalayar recently dedicated a report to the Moroccan consular mobilization around the process. Indeed, Morocco’s consular network has operated on a contingency footing since mid-February.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in coordination with the embassy in Madrid and the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN), introduced a simplified procedure allowing citizens to obtain apostilled criminal record certificates directly from consular offices starting February 11. The measure eliminated the need to travel to Morocco or arrange a power of attorney.
Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita, responding to a parliamentary question, confirmed that certificates could be delivered within one week under the new mechanism. All 12 Moroccan consulates across Spain extended working hours to 6 p.m. instead of the standard 3 p.m.
Weekend openings became routine, with open-door sessions on Sundays organized when demand required it. Temporary staff reinforcements were deployed to support consular teams.
The Barcelona consulate, for instance, received its third, fourth, and fifth batches of apostilled certificates in early March, covering requests filed in mid-February. Almería followed with its own deliveries around the same period. Both offices distributed documents without requiring prior appointments, though personal presence remained mandatory.
The rigidity of Spain’s Mercurio digital platform – which rejects applications containing any formal deficiency – has made consular support critical. Legal advisors and agricultural unions in regions such as Murcia and Andalusia warned that the system archives files over minor errors, leaving Morocco’s consular offices to verify and correct each application before submission.
The clock continues to tick
Not all applicants have cleared administrative hurdles. Some Moroccans discovered that old criminal convictions, theoretically expunged after rehabilitation, still appeared on their good-conduct certificates. Resolving these discrepancies required costly judicial proceedings, and delays in updating records threatened to disqualify otherwise eligible candidates.
Fraud has accompanied the process. Reports documented brokers selling forged residency documents and charging between €30 and €100 for consular appointments. Migrants urged reliance on official channels and accredited legal aid organizations, warning that unauthorized intermediaries could lead to file rejection or worse consequences.
The regularization has not proceeded without legal challenge. The decree has drawn sharp criticism from Spain’s xenophobic circles, whose continued electoral gains could bring a policy reversal after the 2027 legislative elections – potentially undoing the work of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s center-left coalition government.
The Community of Madrid and the far-right party Vox 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 substance. Spain’s previous largest regularization, carried out in 2005, received 691,655 applications and granted 576,506 permits – both figures now eclipsed.
The consular mobilization coincides with the launch of Operation Marhaba, the continent’s largest organized summer transit operation for diaspora communities.
Morocco’s simultaneous management of both operations has tested its administrative infrastructure at a moment when the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum took effect on June 12, tightening entry conditions and expediting deportation procedures across the bloc.
Spain sits less than 14 kilometers from Morocco’s coastline, making it one of Europe’s primary entry points alongside Italy and Greece.
Moroccans already lead all foreign nationalities in naturalizations granted by Madrid – out of roughly 150,000 foreigners who obtain Spanish citizenship each year, Moroccan nationals account for a lion’s share, mostly through long-residence procedures.
Read also: Spain Makes a Big Move While Europe Hesitates on Migration
