Graphic Truth: Spain’s unique path on immigration

While most European countries have tightened their border policies in recent years, Spain is embarking on one of the continent’s most daring immigration initiatives in recent memory: a sweeping program that could grant legal status to half a million undocumented migrants already living within its borders.

The program, introduced by left-wing Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, gives a chance at legal status for any migrants who can prove they applied for protected status before the end of 2025 and who have lived in Spain for at least five months. Applicants with criminal records are not eligible. Spain expects to receive roughly 750,000 requests, with about 500,000 people ultimately meeting the eligibility criteria. The application window runs until the end of June.

As the Graphic Truth above shows, Spain has recently become the most popular European destination for immigrants, surpassing larger countries like Germany, France, and Italy, where rising anti-immigrant sentiment and growing support for far-right parties have forced politicians to crack down on immigration. That mirrors broader trends in the EU, where immigration is a top concern for voters. Policymakers across the bloc have sought to make it easier to turn away asylum seekers and to deport migrants to third countries.

Spain, meanwhile, already has one of the largest immigrant populations on the continent, with nearly 10 million of its 50 million people born abroad. While most have legal status, the number of undocumented people in Spain is reportedly on the rise, approaching 840,000 last year, according to the Madrid-based think tank Funcas. Between 2024 and 2025, in fact, the Western Mediterranean migration route, which runs from north-west Africa to southern Spain, was the only major European migration route that saw an increase in irregular crossings, per Frontex.

So why is Spain setting itself apart from the pack?

Sánchez,who took power in 2018, arguesthe answer is both “moral” and “pragmatic.” In a New York Times op-ed published in February, Sánchez wrote, “the West needs migrants.” Like much of Europe, Spain has a low birth rate coupled with a dwindling native-born workforce. Government statistics show that close to 40% of all new jobs in Spain have been filled by immigrants since 2019 – the numbers are especially high in agriculture, hospitality, and elder care. Some analyses also credit immigration with boosting the country’s GDP per capita growth in the last few years.

But not everyone in Spain supports Sánchez’s embrace of foreigners. The conservative opposition People’s Party (PP), which plans to challenge the decree’s legality, argues it will wreak havoc with the EU’s border-free rules, as people with citizenship in Spain can move onward to other EU countries. Meanwhile, the far-right Vox party, which has surged in popularity over the past decade and recently secured its first coalition deal with the PP, vowed to fight the measure too.