What to know about Spain’s legalization program for immigrants 

Migrants queue at a public service office to obtain paperwork needed to apply for Spain’s immigration amnesty, in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat near Barcelona, Spain, April 21. [AP Photo]

Around 1 million immigrants in Spain have sought to legalize their status after the Southern European nation launched a measure earlier this year to integrate foreigners living and working in the country without authorization.

The window to apply for the program, which was announced in January and kicked off in April, was set to close yesterday.

It offers immigrants without legal status a one-year, renewable residence permit if they have spent five months living in the country and have a clean criminal record.

Spain’s government estimated that half a million people could benefit from the program. But by mid June, the government said it had received more than 900,000 applications.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, one of Europe’s prominent progressive leaders, called the measure “an act of justice and a necessity,” arguing that people already living and working in Spain should “do so under equal conditions” and pay taxes.

The policy contrasts starkly with ratcheted-up deportation efforts taking place in other parts of other parts of the European Union and in the United States. While it wasn’t the first time Spain implemented such a policy, it invited intense public debate and scrutiny in the country.

Here’s a look at the immigration measure by the numbers.

900,000

That’s how many applications the Spanish government had received as of June 12 from immigrants seeking work and residency permits under the temporary program.

The government originally estimated about 500,000 foreigners living in Spain without authorization could benefit, but think tanks and the Spanish police placed the estimate closer to a million people.

Immigration experts and analysts expect the final tally to easily exceed a million applicants.

360,000

The government’s estimate of how many applications were successfully processed by mid June, with applicants set to receive temporary residence and work permits. The final numbers will be higher, as the government has three months to process all applications submitted by June 30.

30%

The share of applicants who are Colombian nationals. Colombians represent one of the largest immigrant groups in Spain, with upward of 980,000 Colombian-born nationals living in the country, according to the National Statistics Institute.

Moroccan nationals made up 14% of applicants, followed by Venezuelans at 10% and Peruvians at 9%, the government said.

Key sectors of the Spanish economy, including agriculture, tourism and the service sector, depend on immigrants from Latin America and Africa.

1 in 5

Spanish residents who were born outside the country. Spain’s population has grown considerably in recent decades, with around 10 million people in the country of 50 million who were born elsewhere — or about one in every five people.

Many are from Colombia, Venezuela and Morocco, having fled violence or political instability, or seeking better economic opportunities.

6

The number of times Spain previously undertook mass legalization measures for immigrants living and working illegally in the country.

The first three times were under Socialist Party Prime Minister Felipe González starting in 1986, but conservative leader José Aznar’s government also oversaw two such measures in the 2000s.

This time around, many more immigrants have applied. In the 2005 measure, the second-largest such instance, 576,500 immigrants had their status legalized. SUMAN NAISHADHAM, MADRID, MDT/AP