MADRID: More than one million undocumented migrants in Spain have sought legal status under a scheme that has defied a wider European crackdown on irregular immigration, the government said on Tuesday, the final day for submissions.
The vast scheme was predicted to benefit around 500,000 people, most from Latin America, when the left-wing government launched it in April.
“The more than one million applications submitted … show how necessary this recognition of rights and responsibilities was,” Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told an event in Madrid.
Sanchez has become a standard bearer of more open immigration policies as his European neighbors — including some Socialist peers — toughen measures in response to pressure from ascendant far-right parties.
He has long argued that immigrants are needed to sustain the economy, the welfare state and pensions amid Spain’s aging population and depopulation in rural regions.
