Spain’s government is planning to give legal and permanent status to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants.

The nation’s Socialist-led government has issued a draft decree to expedite the legal status of migrants, in the latest in series of moves to integrate migrant workers.

It comes as other European countries curb immigration.

Spain’s economic growth has by far outpaced most European nations over the past two years, partly boosted by an openness to immigration that has benefitted key economic sectors such as hospitality and care, and which has bolstered the welfare state.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said Spain needs migration to fill workforce gaps and counteract an ageing population that could imperil pensions and the welfare state. He has said migration accounted for 80 per cent of Spain’s economic growth in the last six years.

Migration Minister Elma Saiz told a news conference irregular migrants who have lived in Spain for at least five months as of the end of 2025 and have no criminal record, as well as those who had applied for asylum before the end of the year, would be eligible for the accelerated residence permit.

Around 500,000 people, mostly from Latin America, will benefit from the move, according to government data.

The permit will be valid for a year – or five in the case of children – and renewable. After ten years, migrants could become eligible for citizenship. The process will be quicker if they are from Latin America or are refugees.

“We are strengthening a migration model based on human rights and integration, compatible with economic growth and social cohesion,” Ms Saiz told a recent news conference.

She said economists across Europe have attributed Spain’s falling unemployment and strong economic growth due in part to its openness to migrants.

Research from think tank Funcas said around 840,000 people, a third of all non-EU migrants in Spain, were undocumented at the start of last year, a sharp increase from eight years ago when the figure was about 100,000.

A citizens’ petition backing legalising undocumented migrants was signed by 700,000 people and backed by 900 rights groups and the Catholic Church.

It was released over a year ago, but stalled in parliament, where disputes with splinter parties across the political arena have hamstrung the government’s ability to pass legislation.

In its current form, the decree can be enacted by the cabinet within a few weeks without parliamentary approval.

Conservative opposition leader Alberto Nuñez Feijoo has vowed to overturn the government’s migration policies if his party wins the next election, due next year.