He Spanish Government will approve this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers the beginning of the processing of a royal decree for a extraordinary regularization of immigrantsa measure agreed with the left-wing Podemos party that could benefit nearly half a million people who are already in the country, including thousands of Cubans.
According to the announced agreement by Podemos MEP, Irene Montero, the regularization will affect all people who can prove:
- Be in Spain before December 31, 2025.
- Have stayed at least five months in the country.
- Lack relevant criminal record.
We have achieved an extraordinary regularization of half a million migrants.
They kidnap children, murder, terrorize. We respond with papers. pic.twitter.com/erQvua6o75
— Irene Montero (@IreneMontero) January 26, 2026
The five-month stay may be demonstrated by various documents: registration certificate, medical reports, rental contracts, electricity supply bills, certificates of money transfers abroad or transportation tickets, among others.
One of the most notable features of this measure is its immediate effect. According to information from government sources:
- The mere presentation of the application will automatically suspend return procedures and expulsion orders.
- Once admitted for processing, a provisional residence authorization which will allow you to work legally and access basic rights such as health care.
- If the resolution is favorable, a one year residence permitafter which an ordinary authorization may be requested.
The deadline to submit applications will be extended until June 30, 2026.
Between 2023 and 2025, around 80 thousand Cubans may have arrived in Spain, with a sustained migratory flow that has raised the Cuban community in the country to more than 250 thousand people.
An agile process without going through Congress
The measure will be processed by royal decree, which means that will take effect automatically without the need for validation in the Congress of Deputies. This formula speeds up its entry into force, since, being a regulatory modification, it does not require agreements with other parties in Parliament.
According to Funcas dataa center for economic and social analysis, the number of migrants in an irregular situation in Spain reached 840 thousand people at the beginning of 2025, which makes this regularization one of the most ambitious in the last two decades.
The last major extraordinary regularization in Spain was carried out by the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2005 and managed to nationalize a similar number. Since the eighties, both PSOE and Popular Party governments They have approved up to eight extraordinary regularization processes with the aim of reducing the number of foreign citizens without rights and fighting against the underground economy.
