Spain bets on migrants to counter labour shortage and boost growth

The Spanish authorities wants to regularise much than 1 cardinal migrants wrong 3 years.

For Madrid, this is 1 of nan keys to early prosperity, successful a discourse of demographic decline.

By 2027, much than 1 cardinal undocumented immigrants could beryllium granted ineligible position successful Spain.

A authorities reform, which came into effect successful May 2025, plans to legalise 300,000 group per twelvemonth for 3 years.

In parallel, a draught bill, yet to beryllium debated successful Parliament, intends to regularise 470,000 undocumented immigrants who arrived earlier nan extremity of December 2024.

The main nonsubjective is to support economical maturation and nan country’s pension system.

Migrants relationship for 13.5% of nan Spanish workforce, and 40% of caller jobs successful 2024, peculiarly successful construction, agriculture and healthcare. 

Madrid’s caller argumentation intends to reside nan labour shortage and nan aging population.

This is simply a reality affecting nan full European Union, wherever nan working-age organization is declining by 1 cardinal group per year.

Foreign workers filled two-thirds of caller jobs betwixt 2019 and 2023.

It is estimated that nan EU has betwixt 2.6 and 3.2 cardinal undocumented migrants.

Among them is 31-year-old Lorena Flechas, who came to Spain from Colombia past March, pinch her hubby and their mini girl Sol.

“In my country, correct now, location is simply a batch of war, bombings and kidnappings.

So, I told myself: ‘No, I can’t. I can’t time off my girl and my family successful this situation,’” explains Lorena.

“My first action was nan American dream, nan United States. But I couldn’t get a visa. I besides thought astir crossing nan border, but I didn’t want to put my daughter’s life astatine risk.” 

Since visas are not required for astir Latin American citizens to participate nan European Union, speech from Bolivians and Ecuadorians, Lorena and her hubby headed for Spain, wherever Lorena’s family is already living.

The mates has started nan process to get residence permits and nan correct to activity successful Spain.

“My girl is still very young and she still has nan opportunity to person a bully acquisition and to thrive. And nan babe I’m expecting besides deserves to turn up successful nan champion conditions,” says Lorena, who dreams of 1 time being capable to bargain her ain location successful Spain.

In nan meantime, nan family lives connected overseas jobs her hubby finds and pinch nan thief of nan relation AESCO, which supports immigrants some materially and successful their efforts to regularise their status.

The mostly of AESCO’s beneficiaries travel from Latin America.

“Currently, it takes 2 to 7 years for group to get each nan ineligible documents allowing them to beryllium afloat integrated,” says Andrés Gaviria, President of AESCO. “The caller betterment would velocity up nan process considerably. This is basal to let a very ample number of group to move retired of nan informal economy. And it is estimated that 5 to six retired of 10 group from Latin America get pinch a degree. This constitutes a root of labour for sectors wherever nan European labour marketplace faces important shortages.”

Claudia Finotelli, a sociologist and professor astatine Complutense University successful Madrid, says migration is now cardinal to Spain’s labour marketplace and demographic future. “Between 2022 and 2024, 5.2 cardinal jobs were created; 75% of them are held by group pinch dual nationality aliases by foreigners,” she explains. 

Spain’s 2005 erstwhile regularisation programme unsocial brought €4,000 successful societal information gross per migrant, while much than 1 cardinal group person gained ineligible position since 2009, nether an individual regularisation scheme.

While nan Spanish exemplary is successful stark opposition to nan European strategy, which focuses connected deportation, “similar measures person been taken successful various EU countries,” observes Finotelli, specified arsenic successful Portugal, Italy and Germany.

“The European Central Bank intelligibly stated successful a study published past May that nan European Union is experiencing a labour shortage.

In Europe, 50% of nan jobs created successful caller years were created acknowledgment to nan publication of migrants. It’s an basal driver of nan labour marketplace and economical growth, astatine a clip erstwhile nan organization is declining, and babe boomers are 15 years distant from retirement,” concludes Finotelli.