The Spanish Parliament has decided to take up a bill that would provide residence and work licences to thousands of illegal immigrants living in this nation. In addition, the new law would allow them to receive public services like health care and education as well as pay taxes and make Social Security contributions. The recent proposal reached the Congress of Deputies in Madrid through a citizen initiative after holding more than 700,000 signatures. It was also supported by nearly 900 organizations. The new legislation voted by lawmakers 310 to 33 will now begin to make its way through the lower house where it will be widely debated and amended after its final version.

Supporting Over 470,000 Migrants

According to the figures from the authors of the initiative, between 390,000 and 470,000 foreigners live in Spain regularly with a large number of them engaged in the informal economy as fruit pickers, caregivers and delivery vehicle drivers among others. They are often vulnerable to exploitation and abuse after not having legal protection. From the new legislation would also benefit about 50,000 irregular migrants living in Valencia, if approved. According to the statistics from the Human Rights Institute of the University of Valencia (UV), as reported by Levante. According to Carbera, the discourse of legal and orderly immigration falls under its own weight as a result of the immigration offices. The promoter considered that it was impossible to make an appointment anywhere, stressing that everything had collapsed. A report provided previously by the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) showed that as of January 2024, about 8.8 million foreigners were living in Spain. According to Eurostat, Spain ranked among the top ten European countries with the highest number of foreign population.