The extraordinary regularization process for migrants in Andalucía and the rest of Spain reaches its end this Tuesday, June 30. The initiative, which began on April 16, has accumulated over 900,000 applications as of June 15, according to data from the Ministry of Migrations. Although the government anticipated benefiting half a million people, the National Police estimated 1,350,000 affected individuals, prompting various organizations to request an extension of the deadline.
Sources from the Ministry have indicated that the application figures are still pending filtering to rule out duplicates. Despite this, the Executive maintains that the process is proceeding normally and provisional authorizations are already being sent out following an exhaustive review of each file.
Concern for those who might be excluded due to a lack of time to gather documentation has led several movements to present a non-binding proposal in the Congress to extend the deadline. Political groups such as Podemos, Sumar, EH Bildu, ERC, and BNG support this measure, considering the June 30 date arbitrary and arguing that an extension is feasible with political will.
Minister Elma Saiz defended the process as a "success for the country," emphasizing that the regularization will "culminate in the emergence of employment, with rights and obligations for migrants, and the strengthening of the labor market," benefiting the Spanish economy and society. She assured that it is not an endpoint but the beginning of a long-term strategy to modernize migration policy, expand social protection, and bolster the public pension system.
The Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR) offered a different perspective, estimating one million regularization requests as of June 15, surpassing official figures. Its director general, Mónica López, warned about the possibility of duplicate applications and noted that, with two weeks left until the deadline, a million applications were already being discussed.
Mónica López also highlighted the processing status, indicating that only about 300,000 applications have been admitted for processing, representing just 30% of the total. She denounced a significant "delay" in management, stating that the initial 15-day periods are not being met in most cases, causing uncertainty. She warned that the final number of applications could be even higher due to difficulties many individuals face in obtaining and legalizing the required documentation.
