Estimates of how many migrants will seek to benefit from the scheme vary, from the government’s figure of about 500,000, to that of a report by the police’s National Centre for Immigration and Borders (CNIF), leaked to the media, which suggested that between 750,000 and 1.1 million is a more realistic number.
The Socialist-led coalition government has cited humanitarian reasons for this initiative, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez describing immigrants as people “who have built the progress of this country alongside us”.
But it also sees the measure as highly pragmatic for a country whose unemployment rate is at an 18-year low, and whose economy grew by nearly 3% last year, a growth rate equal to that of the UK, Germany, France and Italy combined.
“Foreign workers play a very important role when it comes to Spain’s macroeconomic success: the growth of its GDP, its strong and resilient labour market,” Elma Saiz, Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Immigration, tells the BBC. She underlines that, of the country’s 22 million registered workers, 14.1% are foreigners.
“Since 2022, half of Spain’s economic growth has been driven by foreign workers,” Saiz adds. “This is about values, about human rights, and, also, obviously, being aware that we face different challenges, and that our good management of the economy is providing results.”