In recent days the news in our country were surprised by an agreement reached by the PSOE and Podemos, a concordat that achieves the mass regularization of 500,000 migrants residing irregularly. This, according to experts and the opposition of the PP and Vox, will lead to a complicated situation for Spain, as it could increase the pull effect that prompts hundreds of people to risk their lives crossing the Strait of Gibraltar or along the Canary Route, the two most dangerous paths for migrants who arrive on our shores irregularly.
We must recall other mass regularizations that triggered this dangerous effect, especially within African migration, and the victims at sea on the one hand. And on the other, the reception problems that such a surge could cause in the areas where they arrive. Let it serve as an example the saturation suffered by reception centers in the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
The migratory regularization process promoted by the government of Pedro Sánchez has crossed Spanish borders, finding a particularly favorable reception in the Moroccan press, according to Libertad Digital. Various outlets in the neighboring country have highlighted that the initiative will reinforce the dignity of the affected people through a legal framework that guarantees stability and real prospects of integration. In this sense, media such as the Hespress emphasize that administrative integration will facilitate access to the formal labor market, which represents a humanitarian advance that will allow better structuring of employment and strengthening social contributions in the face of the precariousness of the informal sector.
However, this vision of progress starkly contrasts with the concern expressed by police unions in Spain. The police organizations have raised their voices against what they consider an extraordinary measure that breaks with the political consensus maintained for the last two decades. According to these groups, the government’s decision sends a message that could encourage the flow of irregular immigration and benefit the mafias, positioning Spain outside the European strategy of firmness and predictability in controlling outer borders.
A movement, which for several geopolitical experts consulted by MONCLOA.COM, appears aimed at increasing the hybrid war that the Kingdom of the Alaouites maintains with Spain. With its territorial claims over the cited autonomous cities and the territorial waters of Monte Tropic in the Canary Islands and its natural resources. In addition, to confirm its sovereignty over the former Spanish province of the Sahrawi Western Sahara. Immigration and the lives of innocent people as a weapon in Moroccan geopolitics, a classic of the last decades.
2006 CAYUCO CRISIS
As an example of this pull effect we can point to the cayuco crisis between 2006 and 2008, which marked a milestone with the arrival of more than 31,000 people. In this sense, the reactivation of the Atlantic route in recent years has shattered those statistics. According to data collected by RTVE and Atlántico Hoy, both in 2023 and 2024 the figures exceeded the 2006 numbers, reaching peaks ranging from 39,000 to 46,000 arrivals, which places current migratory pressure at unprecedented levels.
Unlike the initial management, where repatriation agreements with Senegal and Mauritania were decisive to slow the flow under the umbrella of the “Africa Plan”, the contemporary scenario presents greater complexity. The route remains active and has become considerably more dangerous. The cayucos now depart from farther points offshore, which dramatically increases mortality in the Atlantic and shifts the pressure focus to islands like El Hierro, whose reception systems suffer recurrent collapse episodes.
Although the magnitude of the current crisis numerically surpasses that of nearly two decades ago, public perception seems to have followed a different path. Analyses published in The Conversation suggest that these recent massive arrivals have generated less social alarm compared with the media impact of 2006. Nevertheless, the reality on the ground confirms that the cayuco crisis was not an isolated event, but the beginning of an unstable and deadly migratory route that continues to pose a structural challenge for border and humanitarian management in Spain.
GOVERNMENT EXPLANATION
The extraordinary regularization promoted by the Government of Spain seeks to guarantee rights and provide legal certainty to thousands of people who already reside in the country. This measure, as articulated through a Royal Decree, responds for the Sánchez government to an existing reality and is framed within a coherent migratory policy strategy that promotes legal, safe, and orderly migration. Its implementation is based on the backing of a Popular Legislative Initiative supported by more than 700,000 signatures and a broad majority in Congress.
The process establishes clear requirements for applicants, such as proving a continuous stay of at least five months at the time of the application and having resided in Spain before December 31, 2025. In the case of those who have requested international protection, it will be sufficient that the application was submitted before that date. In addition, it is essential not to have a criminal record. Applications may be submitted from April 2026 to June 30 of the same year.
According to the Sánchez government, the regularization not only seeks to regularize accumulated irregular situations over years, but also to facilitate social and laboral integration of the regularized people. The residence authorization will allow work in any sector and throughout the national territory, removing administrative barriers for both workers and employers. This will help the regularized people to contribute to social security, pay taxes, and access rights such as health care and education, assuming the same obligations as the rest of the citizenship.
Historical and empirical evidence shows that extraordinary regularizations have positive effects, such as improved labor integration, increased tax revenue, and reduced informality in sectors dependent on migrant labor. In addition, they do not generate a pull effect nor benefit the mafias, since irregularity is precisely what fuels these illegal practices. On the contrary, for the Executive, regularization helps to cut this business and to strengthen the country’s economy and pension system.
This exceptional measure aims to dignify those who “already form part of our communities,” recognizing their contribution to essential sectors such as care, agriculture, and hospitality, and promoting full, free, and dignified integration into Spanish society, according to sources from the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.
