This initiative stems from an agreement between the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), the majority party in the government, and Podemos (left-wing), and will benefit approximately half a million migrants.

It will be issued as a Royal Decree, to avoid approval in the Congress of Deputies, and will apply to those who have been in Spain for five months or more and have no criminal record.

Government spokesperson and Minister of Social Security, Migration and Inclusion, Elma Saiz, stated in an interview on RTVE’s “La de la Uno” program that “today marks the starting point” of a “complex and meticulously planned” process.

She explained that once the application is submitted, it will be processed within 15 days, allowing applicants to work anywhere in Spain.

“The administration must provide a swift, efficient, reliable, and secure response. Therefore, once applications can be processed from the beginning of April until June 30th, the goal is for them to be approved within a very short timeframe, no more than three months,” Saiz commented.

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