The other day a Moroccan guy at my gym was mad.
He had some papers in his hand. Bureaucracy.
He’d just come from his consulate, he said. The criminal background check he’d asked for was too expensive.
“Do they think I’m rich?” he asked – talking to no-one in particular.
He sat on a weight bench and showed the top paper on the stack to another guy, who I suspect is ethnically Moroccan himself (it seems impolite to ask, for some reason).
The other guy glanced at it and said, “Bah! It’s 4 euros!”
That was the first day of the government’s Mass Regularization – a controversial measure meant to legalize immigrants who’ve been in Spain since December 2025 or longer.
Estimates say there could be 500,000 people ready to become “regular” with the new Royal Decree.
My guess is it’s more. And apparently, the guy at my gym is one of them, although he speaks good Spanish and seems to have been around for a while.
Spain’s Mass Regularization Chaos
I often walk past the Moroccan consulate in Poblenou, and these days it’s surrounded by a huge crowd – probably people waiting for the same background check.
According to the news, something similar is happening at the Pakistani consulate across town. And yesterday I read that the Gambian embassy in Madrid had been attacked by a few dozen migrants, who were fed up after days of waiting for the necessary documents.
The Moroccan consulate usually has police standing around to keep order. (There are officially around 1.2 million Moroccans in Spain, although I suppose nobody knows how many are here without papers.)
Elsewhere, people are sleeping on cardboard outside associations for migrants, waiting overnight for a “certificate of vulnerability”.
That’s one of the documents accepted by the authorities as a reason for regularization.
You can show that you have a job or a job offer, that you’re living with family, or that you’re in a situation of social vulnerability. Hence the certificate.
(The immigrant associations, on their end, complain that they have no idea what the government wants them to do. How should they be certifying people’s vulnerability, exactly? And isn’t being an undocumented migrant “vulnerability” enough? What more do they need to prove?)
Of course, if you’re here in Spain without papers, you should consult a lawyer about all this – don’t go to the immigration office saying you read about the process on some blog.
Personally, I recommend you talk to Roberto over at continentalis.eu – he’s the one who got me Spanish nationality, and Contientalis will also get your background check, Apostille of the Hague, and other US documents you might need. (Tell him Daniel sent you and he’ll give you a discount.)
Is regularizing immigrants a popular policy in Spain?
The regularizaition was passed by Royal Decree, which means it didn’t go through a parliamentary debate. And it’s seemingly not very popular among the electorate.
A news site called El Debate claims that only around 27% of Spanish residents are in favor of the regularization.
Another site, El Español, gives similar numbers, having surveyed Spaniards with the right to vote.
So apparently, we’re mostly against it. And as I wrote recently, a lot of people already dislike Pedro Sanchez and his leftist coalition government, for various reasons.
But there are certain things about the new law that make it even more controversial.
For one, El Español reports that inmates waiting for trial are now being offered their papers while still in prison. Some have been accused of serious crimes. But we’re all innocent until proven guilty, here in Spain.
That’s article 24 of the Constitution, it’s called “presunción de inocencia”.
Another controversial thing is that rollout has been pretty bad.
Apparently, government funcionarios were informed about the law by email late in the afternoon, the day before the Decree took effect. The already-overwhelmed immigration workers don’t really know what to do, or how they’re going to get through all the applications in time.
Meanwhile, scams abound. People are selling appointments for the “padrón” (the official register of inhabitants you’re supposed to sign up for if you live in any Spanish city). They’re selling appointments at the immgrant associations. And they’re selling appointments at the post office to put in all the papers.
The government has tried to make it clear that every part of the process should be free… but obviously, the people making the laws have never spent time trying to get an appointment with their local immigration office.
I’ve probably mentioned this before: Spanish bureaucracy is difficult.
My opinion on Spain’s Mass Regularization of immigrants
As a newly-minted Spaniard with a right to vote myself, I can’t say I’m against regularizing immigrants.
But that’s probably more about my personal biases than anything else: I came to Spain about 22 years ago and overstayed a tourist visa.
I worked under the table in Madrid, lived in shared flats, and walked around the block to avoid police any time I could.
Being able to become “regular” several years after moving here is one of the best pieces of luck I’ve ever had. And I try to imagine that most immigrants, like myself, just want to work, pay taxes, and be useful members of society.
(Of course, I also think that talking about immigrants as if there were one unified group of people is sort of stupid – there are millions of foreign-born people living in Spain, and they’re here for a variety of reasons. Not all are attempting to be “good citizens”, either.)
So I don’t know. I hate Pedro Sánchez as much as the next guy, but I’m okay with this law…
Despite its several problems.
More about immigration in Spain
I first wrote about this regularization in my article Mass Migration Madness, which goes into more depth about the whole thing, and about immigration in Spain generally.
One of the big questions remains: what will this do to the economy?
After a couple of good years, the Spanish economy had some bad news this week: unemployment jumped in the first quarter, inflation is up, and it looks like the growth outlook for 2026 is worse than expected.
The housing situation isn’t getting better, either.
Meanwhile, the two major political parties each have people on trial for corruption. Yes, Caso Koldo is back – and so is the long-forgotten Caso Kitchen. Those are the week’s top news stories.
Immigration wasn’t really on Spaniards’ political radar for a long time. Then, suddenly, it was. And summer is coming, which means it’s tourist and mass protest season. Should be fun.
Hope you’re doing well out there. Stay regular!
Yours,
Daniel AKA Mr Chorizo.
P.S. For more about your rights in a police situation or if you’ve been arrested here in Spain, check out my Police State article from last year – the research for that one began when I was accused of being a pickpocket up in a fancy neighborhood of Barcelona. I don’t recommend that, as an experience. But I had it so you don’t have to.
P.P.S. If you want to get legal yourself, or do any other Spanish immigration process, the best thing would be to talk to a real, competent immigration lawyer. Roberto over at Continentalis.eu will help you out. Tell him that Daniel sent you for a discount. And good luck with your Spanish bureaucratic journey, whoever you are.
0 comments