Spain is taking drastic action to boost the country’s workforce as an ageing population threatens to halt economic growth.
The government in Madrid is planning to legalise 300,000 undocumented migrants over the next three years. The announcement came as more than 100 illegal migrants arrived in Majorca from North Africa in a single day.
The left-wing Spanish minority government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has been welcoming to migrant arrivals during its time in office.
Meanwhile, other countries in Europe are seeking to reduce the number of new arrivals.
Spanish Migration Minister Elma Saiz said: “Spain has to opt between being an open, prosperous country or being a closed and poor one, and we have chosen the former.”
She added that the extra 250,000-300,000 migrants will help prop up the country’s welfare bill.
The new policy will make the bureaucracy involved in migrant claims simplified to speed up the approval of work and residence permits.
Migrants will also be given improved labour rights, meaning they can work as either self-employed or contracted employees.
Spain’s economy has grown quicker than any other in the European Union as a number of skilled workers from South America help fill gaps in the technology and hospitality sectors.
The country’s GDP was boosted by 3.4% in the third quarter of 2024. Fitch Ratings said net migration in 2022 surpassed that of the entire previous decade, helping to address Spain’s ageing population problem.
They added: “The rise in the working-age population will moderate over 2024-2028 but still outpace peers, supporting growth prospects.”
However, a poll conducted by Spanish newspaper El Pais found that 57% of Spaniards believe there is “too much immigration.”
The same poll also found that 54% of Spaniards believe there are more migrants in Spain than the real figure – 18.5% of the population.
