Spain bucks European trend with mass amnesty of migrants

Europe

To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.

One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.

Issued on: 26/06/2026 - 13:00

12:40 min

From the show

Reading time

1 min

A mass amnesty of undocumented immigrants is currently underway in Spain. Bucking the trend of its European neighbours, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist government is embracing immigration to underpin its growing economy. However, the plan does not enjoy universal support. It faces strong criticism, in particular from the far right. FRANCE 24's Victoria David and Maude Petit-Jové report, with Sarah Morris.

Undocumented immigrants in Spain have until June 30 to lodge a request for a temporary residence permit. At least half a million people are expected to benefit from the measure.

Our reporters look at how this historic amnesty will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of migrants in Spain. They also ask if the initiative risks dividing Spanish society, where foreign nationals currently make up more than 15 percent of the active population.

By:

Related keywords