Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has officially signed a royal decree granting amnesty to an estimated 500,000 illegal migrants currently living in Spain — bypassing parliament entirely after a previous legislative attempt failed to secure enough votes.
The decree, approved by Spain’s Council of Ministers on Tuesday and published in the Official State Gazette on Wednesday, makes migrants eligible for a one-year residency and work permit if they can demonstrate they were present in Spain before January 1, 2026, and have resided there continuously for at least five months. Online applications opened Thursday, with in-person services beginning April 20.
The move has drawn immediate and widespread condemnation across Europe. The EU Commissioner for Asylum and Migration warned in an internal document that Spain’s plan may carry significant consequences for the entire European Union. France’s Institute for Justice called it a blatant attempt to rig future elections. VOX leader Santiago Abascal warned Sánchez directly: “The Spanish people have not given permission for this, and sooner rather than later you will have to pay for it.” Spain’s own immigration offices threatened to strike over the announcement, warning the country’s systems are completely unprepared to process half a million applications. Nearly 70% of Spaniards oppose the measure.
Sánchez, who was in Beijing when the decree was signed, framed the move as an economic necessity and “an act of justice” — this from a leader who lacked the parliamentary votes to pass the measure through legitimate legislative channels and chose a royal decree to override democratic opposition.
What Sánchez has done is a textbook exercise in ruling against the will of your own people. Nearly 70% of Spaniards opposed this amnesty. An absolute majority of parliament opposed it. So he went around both. The rest of Europe is rightly alarmed — border security is only as strong as the weakest link, and Spain just swung its door wide open.
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