Spain’s historic migrant amnesty faces high court challenge  

(CN) — More than 1.3 million migrants living in Spain without permission applied for amnesty before a Tuesday deadline, but the country’s Supreme Court signaled it might strike down the law.

Under the amnesty, successful applicants will be given a one-year residency and a work permit that can be renewed. But hopeful migrants were dealt a blow Tuesday after the Supreme Court said it would review the measure because it potentially contravened the European Union’s new tough migration laws, a package known as the Pact on Migration and Asylum. The EU laws went into force on June 12.

Roughly 1 million applications were expected to be approved, a number that would make it the largest migrant amnesty in European history, surpassing Italy’s 2002 amnesty that saw the “regularization” of about 647,000 immigrants.

The world’s largest-ever amnesty for migrants came in 1986 under U.S. President Ronald Reagan when an estimated 2.7 million immigrants were granted residency.

Spain’s center-left Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez approved the amnesty in February as a way to keep the country’s solid economic growth on track, counter falling birth rates and provide migrants with a legal pathway to remaining in the country. At the time, Sánchez estimated about a half million people living in the shadows of Spanish society could be eligible.

On Tuesday, Sánchez said 505 million euros ($575 million) would be set aside for the amnesty program. He said the money would pay to process the claims and help migrants integrate into Spanish society.

“We do it out of responsibility because it is the right thing to do,” he said. “We do it intelligently because in an aging country immigration helps meet labor needs, sustains the welfare state, and keeps many regions alive.”

He argued immigration was pivotal in driving Spain’s economy and that without immigrants gross domestic product would shrink by 19% by 2050.

Immigrants, he said, are critical to Spain’s tourism and agricultural sectors. “When Spain integrates, Spain grows and progresses,” he said.

But Spain is an outlier in Europe, with many countries tightening borders and stepping up efforts to deport migrants. Across the EU, far-right parties have made big gains as they push anti-immigrant rhetoric and in turn force centrist parties to adopt tougher stances on migrants.

Inside Spain, Sánchez’s amnesty has been heavily criticized by his conservative opponents, the center-right Popular Party and far-right Vox. These parties are leading in opinion polls and they are expected to win the next parliamentary elections, which must take place by August next year.

Vox and the Popular Party have challenged the amnesty law before the Supreme Court, arguing that Sánchez acted unconstitutionally by passing the measure as an amendment to immigration laws without needing Parliament’s approval.

On Tuesday, Spanish media reported the Supreme Court indicated it might halt the amnesty because it “clashes with the European Union.”

The amnesty program “raises doubts as to whether it could conflict” with the Pact on Migration and Asylum, the court said.

The court suggested the amnesty granted residency too broadly and that Spain needed to consult with the European Commission, the EU executive and other EU states before passing such a sweeping regulation.

Some EU leaders, most notably far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, have opposed the amnesty, arguing it would allow migrants to travel outside Spain and lure immigrants to seek entry into the EU.

The Supreme Court ruling was made last Wednesday, but Spanish media said it was not made public until Tuesday. The regions of Aragon and Valencia, which are run by right-wing parties, are asking the high court to nix the amnesty.

The Supreme Court could halt the process and ask the European Court of Justice, the EU’s high court, to determine whether it breaches EU laws.

Meanwhile, the new migration pact faces its own potential legal challenges before EU courts, with critics saying the rules violate international laws protecting asylum-seekers.

In Spain, the amnesty has won the support of trade unions and business groups. Pope Leo XIV endorsed Sánchez’s welcoming policies toward migrants during a trip earlier this month to Spain.

“We are doing the only decent and morally acceptable thing, which is to extend a hand instead of turning our backs on the reality of migration,” Sánchez said Tuesday. “No society has ever progressed by building walls. They progress by expanding rights, strengthening coexistence and committing to integration.”

To back up his approach, the prime minister cited economic figures and said 44% of the 2.9 million new jobs created between 2018 and 2025 were filled by foreign nationals. At the same time, he said, Spain’s unemployment rate fell by more than 4%.

He also pointed to Bank of Spain data showing foreign nationals contributed between 14% and 24% of per capita GDP growth between 2022 and 2024.

In recent years, Spain’s population has increased sharply and it includes about 10 million people who were born outside the country, or one in every five residents.

Many have fled poverty and violence, such as in countries like Colombia, Venezuela and Morocco, and work in key areas of Spain’s economy, including agriculture, tourism and the service sector.

Spain granted amnesty to immigrants living in the country illegally six times before between 1986 and 2005, including under conservative governments.

Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.

Follow @cainburdeau