More than a million undocumented migrants and asylum seekers have applied to gain permanent status in Spain under the Spanish government’s new scheme to regularise their status and reap an economic windfall.

The million mark comes as most European countries are closing their doors on migrants.

The initiative, announced by the socialist-led government in January, was originally intended to benefit about 500,000 people, but it has since attracted more than twice that number of applicants.

The scheme offers a residence and work permit, initially valid for one year, to applicants who can prove that they do not have a criminal record and that they had lived in Spain for at least five months, or if they had sought international protection before December 2025.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the huge take-up of the program revealed how much it was needed.

“The fact that more than a million people submitted applications shows just how necessary this recognition of rights and responsibilities was,” he said.

Mr Sánchez said Spain needed immigration to grow economically, to tackle its demographic crisis and to finance its welfare state.

“Without immigration, Spain’s GDP would be 19 per cent lower in 2050,” he said.

“And what does that mean in business terms? It means, for example, that 90,000 bars would have to close, that 50,000 primary and secondary classrooms would find themselves without students, and that around 220,000 farms would disappear.”

He said that without immigration, Spain would be “poorer, emptier, weaker and without the resources to fund its welfare state”.

Although similar extraordinary regularisation programs have been introduced by previous socialist and conservative governments in Spain, the latest scheme has been fiercely criticised by the right-wing People’s party (PP) and the far-right Vox party.

The PP has suggested the move will overwhelm Spain’s public services, while Vox has claimed that Sánchez is trying to bring about “the demographic, social, labour and electoral transformation of Spain”.

The PP regional governments of Valencia and Aragón have lodged appeals against the regularisation programme. On Tuesday, the court said it was considering asking the European court of justice whether aspects of the Spanish government’s regularisation decree could be at odds with EU law.

 Spain’s minister for inclusion, social security and migration Ema Saiz dismissed the criticism, saying it reeked of desperation.

“I find them incredibly irresponsible. They demonstrate the desperation and frustration of someone who has no political project for our country and who already seems to sense an electoral defeat,” she said.

Mr Sánchez has been a staunch and sustained defender of the need for migration at a time when most other European leaders have cracked down on immigration in an effort to convince voters they are also taking immigration seriously.

He has said the country is at a demographic crossroads and needed migration to grow its economy and maintain its welfare state.

“Throughout history, migration has been one of the great drivers of the development of nations while hatred and xenophobia have been – and continue to be – the greatest destroyer of nations,” he said. “The key is in managing it well,” he said.

Sánchez recently unveiled a €500million ($A8290 million) ‘integration and citizenship’ plan to help manage the flow of migrants and ensure they are well integrated.

“Spanish society must guarantee equal treatment, combat discrimination, and offer opportunities. And those who arrive must respect our laws, learn our official languages, and share the democratic values that define us,” he said.