Spain is legalizing half a million immigrants, a very different policy from the U.S. - BERITAJA

BARCELONA, Spain — Nariola Romo, 34, and her family immigrated to Spain from Colombia, but that wasn’t their first plan. Their extremity was to recreation to the United States, but they couldn’t get the 2 loans they needed to make the trip, truthful they sought a caller life successful Europe instead.

“Things didn’t activity retired for us, and we thought it was God’s will that we didn’t get the chance to spell there, and, well, present we are,” she said.

Today, arsenic she nears obtaining ineligible position successful Spain, she feels grateful for the move her life has taken. “Look astatine really things are successful the United States pinch migrants. It seems for illustration God didn’t want america to beryllium there, because pinch everything that’s happened, we would person been deported already,” she said.

From correct to left, Nariola Romo, her son, Angelito, her husband, Ángel, her daughter, Claribel, and her father, Will, connected the Barcelona metro.Marta Campabadal

In Spain, an bonzer regularization process is underway that is expected to legalize the position of much than 500,000 undocumented immigrants.

If approved, the activity and residence licence is valid for 1 twelvemonth for big immigrants, who will past person to show employment to support their permit. For minors, their position is regularized for 5 years.

It’s a opposition from the U.S., wherever President Donald Trump — who said during the 2024 statesmanlike run that undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the country” — has conducted a monolithic run to detain and deport immigrants and stem immigration.

In Spain, the deadline for submitting applications is June 30, and the process is expected to return 3 months aft the documents are submitted. The program, announced by the Spanish authorities successful January, received complete 43,000 applications successful conscionable 3 days erstwhile the exertion play opened connected April 16. Within a month, the number of applications had risen to 549,596.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the move was an enactment of “normalization” and that the immigrants who will use from it are already portion of the regular lives of Spaniards.

Romo’s family is 1 of those hoping to use from the measure.

“Fortunately, 1 time we recovered retired done societal media that a regularization process was coming, and from past on, we tried to make judge the clip came quickly truthful we could complete the process,” said Romo, who, on pinch her family, has applied for the benefit.

After 2 years successful Barcelona and the denial of asylum, which near the family successful limbo successful November 2025, Romo, her husband, who useful successful construction, their 2 children, ages 4 and 12, and her begetter person applied for regularization.

The family, primitively from Barranquilla, had respective businesses and fled Colombia successful 2024 seeking safety, arsenic they were facing threats and extortion from criminal gangs, said Romo, a coach by occupation who successful Spain has worked astatine a storage and arsenic a backstage tutor.

“To emigrate, you person to beryllium incredibly brave, leaving your home, your business, your job, your colleagues, your family, everything. … I came pinch my life successful a 10-kilo (22-pound) suitcase,” Romo said, adding she felt fortunate because “Spain is simply a state that welcomes immigrants.”

And though it was a difficult decision, Romo now feels astatine bid and believes they made the correct choice. “I’m genuinely very happy arsenic a mother to person my children here,” she said.

‘I will beryllium capable to activity and thief my family’

The business for Diadji Nguirane’s family is different. Nguirane and his partner, Maimouna Gueye, some from Senegal, person 3 daughters calved successful Spain, and the wide regularization will only use him, since she and the girls already person ineligible position successful the country.

Diadji Nguirane and his partner, Maimouna Gueye, successful the surviving room of their location successful the municipality of Terrassa, about 17 miles from Barcelona.Marta Campabadal

“I person been successful Spain for 2 years, and erstwhile I get my documents, that will beryllium very favorable because I will beryllium capable to activity and thief my family,” said Nguirane, who conscionable a fewer days agone received confirmation that his lawsuit was being processed.

So far, Nguirane says his only action has been “working occasionally helping a friend, doing attraction tasks, but without a contract.”

Since Nguirane hasn’t been capable to activity legally, his partner, Gueye, has been supporting the family financially. She does cleaning activity astatine a infirmary successful Terrassa, a municipality about 17 miles from Barcelona wherever they live. “I time off the location astatine 5 a.m. and he takes the girls to school,” Gueye said.

Once Nguirane gets his ineligible permit, Gueye hopes he could beryllium hired for sanitation activity astatine the infirmary while still helping to return attraction of the children.

Nguirane’s family is besides seeking information and stableness successful Spain.

“Returning to Senegal is not successful my plans because it is simply a state I person not lived in, it is simply a state I do not know, and whenever I go, moreover if it is for 15 days, it is difficult for me,” Gueye said.

The 2nd awesome regularization successful 20 years

To use for regularization, immigrants must meet a number of requirements and supply documents.

In summation to a passport, immigrants must beryllium they were successful Spain earlier Jan. 1, 2026, and had been successful the state continuously for astatine slightest 5 months astatine the clip of application, which they could show done a registration certificate, aesculapian records aliases impervious of having children enrolled successful school.

Immigrants besides person to supply impervious — from their state of root aliases wherever they person lived successful the past 5 years — of a cleanable criminal record. In immoderate cases, officials besides petition a vulnerability certificate, which could beryllium issued by societal work agencies to verify the difficult circumstances the personification is experiencing, specified arsenic trouble accessing employment aliases housing, among different issues.

This is not the first clip Spain has opted to regularize its undocumented population.

“That’s been done respective times already. The past clip was 20 years agone pinch [the Zapatero government]. But this is simply a process that isn’t only done successful Spain, but successful each state successful the world. … It’s communal practice,” said Verónica Jaramillo, a lawyer astatine the Bayt al-Thaqafa Foundation, a Barcelona-based statement that supports migrants.

Although location are nary charismatic figures, the #RegularizacionYa movement, which is driving the existent regularization process, estimated that 500,000 immigrants were undocumented successful Spain. Meanwhile, the Funcas deliberation vessel estimated that number had risen to complete 800,000 by 2025.

Regularization could use not only immigrants but besides economies pinch aging populations, specified arsenic Spain’s. The country’s aging scale reached record highs past year, pinch 148 group complete 64 years aged for each 100 who were nether 16.

According to Jaramillo, immoderate “self-respecting” state should do what Spain is doing, which is adding much group who could salary into its Social Security system.

“It is perfectly and wholly utilitarian, yes,” Jaramillo said, but “that is the logic for the regularization.”

However, the measurement has met pinch fierce guidance from right-wing parties, which person described it arsenic irresponsible and a measurement to further illness a state pinch definite nationalist services that are already stretched to the limit.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a blimpish who is president of the Madrid region, said that the measurement to legalize immigrants was a measurement to “manipulate the census,” “culturally toggle shape Spain” and “sabotage the elections.” However, immigrants who use from the legalization process will not beryllium capable to vote.

For the Romo and the Nguirane families, the dream is that the wide regularization will alteration their life prospects successful a state wherever they activity not only to settle, but besides to put down roots.