The Council of Ministers approved at the beginning of the week the extraordinary regularization of foreign persons who live in an irregular administrative situation in Spain.
The application period began this April 16 and will be open until June 30. It can be requested in person and telematically, being available in this latter format 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Furthermore, from its admission for processing, applicants will be able to work legally in Spain, obtaining ex officio a Social Security number and for an initial validity of one year.
This step will allow processing the authorization of legal residence in Spain to more than half a million people who live in the different autonomous communities and who arrived in the country before January 1 of this year. With its announcement, hoaxes have not been long in coming and La Voz has prepared some questions and answers to dismantle the main ones.
Will this regularization mean 'papers for all', as the leader of VOX, Santiago Abascal, says?
No, the extraordinary regularization is intended for those people who are in an irregular administrative situation in Spain and who already live in the country since before January 1, 2026. Therefore, it will not affect non-EU foreign persons who arrive at the Spanish borders from that date, who will be guided by the usual channels.
At the same time, the royal decree that gives the green light to the extraordinary regularization prevents access to stateless persons, that is to say, those that no country recognizes as its own and who already face several administrative hurdles.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported that stateless persons often suffer discrimination and gaps in nationality laws. This situation especially affects the Sahrawi population, which is once again affected by this measure, after Spain radically changed its stance on Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in 2022. Also not included are people coming from the conflict in Ukraine, who already have a residence permit or temporary international protection permit, nor those who already have a valid permit or one in the process of renewal.
Will regularization translate into greater healthcare pressure on public healthcare?
No, because they are already part of the health system. The Government of Spain approved last March a royal decree, different from that of regularization, to recognize the right of foreign people who do not have legal residence in Spain to be assisted in health services.
In 2012, under the presidency of Mariano Rajoy at the head of the Government of Spain, the Executive approved withdrawing healthcare from irregular migrant persons, preventing foreign persons who did not have authorized residency from being habitually treated and relegating their treatment only to emergency situations due to serious illness or accident, or for pregnancy assistance, with the exception of minors who were recognized assistance under the same conditions as Spaniards.
As of 2018, under the presidency of Pedro Sánchez, foreign persons without legal residence in Spain saw their right recognized to be treated with the same health protection and healthcare as Spanish citizens as long as they were within the country, and under a series of procedures to request a document from the autonomous community that accredits them to be able to receive this benefit.
The Government of Spain then pointed out that international and European regulations recognize the right "of every human being" to the protection of their health.
Upon detecting that the norm was not being applied equally in all Spanish territories and alluding to the "administrative barriers" faced by migrants in an irregular situation, the Spanish Executive approved this March a new royal decree to develop a regulation that regulates their access to healthcare. In this new royal decree, the healthcare coverage of Spanish people residing abroad and visiting Spain was also included.
Does the Government do it to receive more votes in the next elections?
Foreign individuals in a regular administrative situation can only exercise their right to vote in municipal and European elections. Furthermore, for this, it is necessary that their countries of origin recognize the right to vote of Spaniards in their municipal elections, based on the Reciprocity of Vote Agreements, and it is not a practice that occurs in all countries.
For the rest of elections, such as national and regional elections, they are required to have Spanish nationality.
Are criminal records not requested?
One of the requirements for extraordinary regularization is the obligation to present a criminal record certificate in Spain, but also that it includes the country of origin, as well as the other countries where the person may have resided in the last five years before the date of entry into Spain.
