Spain’s blanket regularisation of around 500,000 undocumented migrants has caused debate and misconceptions, but data shows who’s set to benefit from the measure, and who the vast majority of Spain’s migrants without papers really are.
Spain’s government approved a decree on Tuesday which will see more than 500,000 undocumented migrants given the right to work and reside legally in the country.
It aims to “guarantee rights and give legal certainty to an existing social reality”, meaning it will seek to legalise the situation of around half a million illegal migrants already living in Spain who can prove they have a connection to the country.
According to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, headed up by Elma Saiz, it “reinforces” a migration policy model “based on human rights, integration and coexistence, compatible with economic growth and social cohesion”.
Q&A: How Spain’s mass regularisation of undocumented migrants will work
The mass regularisation of undocumented migrants is nothing new in Spain.
It’s been done several times before, including by the centre-right People’s Party (PP) Prime Minister José María Aznar, who in 2000 and 2001 allowed 503,000 migrants to regularise their situation.
Nonetheless, the modern day PP, now in opposition to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling Socialists (PSOE), along with elements of the right-wing Spanish media, have portrayed the regularisation as an attempt to redefine Spanish demography and fix elections for future Socialists victories — despite the fact none of the people set to benefit from the measure will be able to vote in general elections.
Some of the more blatant anti-migrant rhetoric has also implied that regularising undocumented migrants means young, single African men arriving on boats are set to benefit the most, but the data disproves this.
Advertisement
Latin Americans, not Africans
The figure that’s been widely used by the Spanish government and press is 500,000 migrants who are set to gain residency, but according to the Funcas think-tank around 840,000 undocumented migrants lived in Spain at the beginning of January 2025, most of them Latin American.
The vast majority of paperless migrants affected by the blanket regularisation are Latino. Funcas data shows 70 percent of undocumented migrants in Spain come from South American countries, while Central America and the Caribbean account for around 17 percent.
Just 5 percent came from African countries, and the remaining 7 percent arrived from Europe, the rest of America, Asia and Oceania.
In terms of country of origin, one in three are from Colombia. Peru also accounts for almost 13 percent and Honduras for around 11 percent.
Among African countries Morocco and Algeria stand out, with more than 2 percent.
Spanish state broadcaster RTVE notes, however, that these figures only take into account arrivals by land and sea and do not include foreigners who arrive as tourists or with other types of visas via airports and overstay.
Between this and the data, it seems safe to conclude that the vast majority of migrants sin papeles (without papers) in Spain are not Africans arriving on boats, as some in Spain believe (or would like us to believe), but rather likely to be Spanish-speaking migrants who arrive legally after catching a flight to Spain and overstay.
Advertisement
Most undocumented migrants in Spain are of working age
Another common criticism of the Sánchez government’s pro-immigration policies, something that bucks European trends, is that the foreigners who arrive in Spain, legally or not, come in order to take advantage of state benefits — ayudas.
Again, the data shows that the majority of undocumented migrants in Spain are of working age. This is the conclusion of a report commissioned by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration from the Economic and Social Committee (CES) in 2025.
One of its main conclusions was that the migrant population in Spain is significantly younger than the native population. The average age of foreigners was 35 in 2021 and fell to 33.2 in 2022, well below the national average of 44.3. For a country facing serious demographic decline like Spain, the country needs millions more foreign workers to maintain pensions moving forward.
According to CES conclusions, this younger demographic profile is because the vast majority of migrants arriving in Spain come for employment. There’s substantial evidence that the Spanish economy, the fastest growing among developed nations in recent years, has been spurred largely by its migrant workforce.
They do the jobs Spaniards don’t
Nonetheless, Spain’s migrant population is also more likely to work in specific sectors crucial to Spanish society and economy. For those without residency papers, they are often forced to work in difficult or unsociable positions.
Foreigners mainly work in intensive service sectors, especially in low-skilled activities, according to data from the Labour Force Survey compiled by the Economic and Social Committee (CES), with 68.4 percent working in the service sector, especially in catering and hospitality, personal services, domestic services and care work.
There’s a notable presence in so-called ‘basic occupations’ such as cleaning and construction.
Advertisement
They earn less than Spaniards
By taking these sorts of jobs, 80 percent of foreign workers in Spain earn salaries below the national average, and their incomes are substantially lower than those of Spaniards.
According to the INE’s Living Conditions Survey, in 2024 the average annual earnings of non-EU workers barely reached 58 percent of those of Spanish workers.
