Spain: Over 70% of Immigrant Regularization Requests Granted Temporary Permits Amidst Political Boycott

Spain has processed over 70% of the nearly 1.2 million applications for extraordinary immigration regularization, granting temporary permits to live and work to a significant portion of applicants. This update was provided by Spanish Minister of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migrations, Elma Saiz.

However, a planned meeting of the Sectoral Conference on Immigration, convened by the Socialist government of Pedro Sánchez, was largely boycotted. Most regional governments led by the Popular Party (PP) refused to attend, citing a lack of transparency and a "emptying of the conference's true purpose" of inter-administrative cooperation. Ana Dávila, representing the PP-governed communities, accused the central government of "opacity."

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The PP has ceased to be a party of state to become an anti-system party.

Minister Saiz criticized the PP's boycott, stating, "The PP has ceased to be a party of state to become an anti-system party." Despite the boycott, Saiz proceeded with a meeting for the regions that did attend, including Navarra, the Basque Country, Catalonia, the Canary Islands, Asturias, and Castilla-La Mancha. She highlighted the "positive impact" of the regularization measure, noting that over 50,000 people are now contributing to social security in the Community of Madrid as a result.

The PP representatives countered that the government had ignored their requests for information, including details on the implementation of the European Immigration Pact and economic impact studies for local communities. They also claimed their requests for access to "reserved documentation" regarding the regularization process were not met.

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emptying of the conference's true purpose, which is cooperation between administrations