Spain’s immigration offices are heading toward a strike next week as anger grows over Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s sweeping amnesty plan for undocumented migrants, according to Reuters. Officials say the system is not ready to handle what could be as many as half a million applications.
The programme, approved by the cabinet on Tuesday, is a major part of Sanchez’s progressive agenda. He says it will help Spain meet the needs of an ageing society and strengthen the economy by bringing more workers into the legal system. Online applications are set to open on Thursday, with in-person appointments to follow a day later.
But immigration officers warn that the process is being rushed and underfunded. A union leader, Cesar Perez, said the government is once again introducing a new regularisation drive without giving offices the money and staff needed to manage it properly. In protest, officers have threatened to stop processing immigration applications from April 21.
To reduce pressure on the overloaded system, only five of Spain’s 54 immigration offices will handle applications directly. The rest will be spread across social security offices, post offices, and NGOs, according to the Spanish union CCOO.
Spain, a country of about 50 million people, now has around 10 million foreign-born residents. Think tank Funcas estimates that about 840,000 undocumented migrants are currently working in the country.
The plan has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition Popular Party, which calls it reckless. Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the powerful conservative leader of Madrid’s regional government, has also said she may challenge the measure in court.
Sanchez defended the policy in a letter published on X, calling it both an act of justice and an economic necessity. “Spain is ageing,” he wrote. “Without more people working and contributing to the economy, our prosperity slows and our public services suffer.”
