Spanish government announces immigrant amnesty

The Spanish government has approved a plan to regularise the situation of more than half a million irregular immigrants.

If passed in parliament, the amnesty will provide a fast track to legal residence for immigrants who can prove they have spent more than five months in the country and who have no criminal record.

Successful applicants will receive a renewable one-year residence permit, which will give them the right to work, access the public health system and the right to register for social security.

The Spanish government believes that the regularisation plan will reduce labour exploitation, increase tax revenues and boost the economy. Spain’s economy currently leads the EU in terms of growth, and unemployment, while still high, has fallen below 10% for the first time since the economic crisis of 2008-2014.

The opposition PP has criticised the plan, although it introduced similar schemes when in power, with over 580,000 immigrants benefitting from a similar amnesty in 2005.