Spain is launching today a large-scale plan to regularize the stay of migrants without identity documents, which will affect "nearly half a million people" and aims to support the country's economy, said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
"The Congress of Ministers will approve a royal decree that will launch an extraordinary procedure for the regularization of persons residing illegally in the territory of our country," Sanchez said in a letter to Spanish citizens published on the social network Ex.
In this way, the prime minister confirmed the initiative, which was announced at the end of January this year and aims to legalize the stay of Latin American migrants in the first place, AFP recalls.
"This legalization is above all an act of normalization, which recognizes the reality of nearly half a million people who are already part of our everyday lives," added Pedro Sanchez.
Spanish government spokeswoman Elma Sais specified to radio "Cadena Ser" that the procedure "will start this week" tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. local time (5:00 p.m. Bulgarian time) online, then it will be carried out on site from Monday next week and will end on June 30.
In his letter to Spanish citizens, Pedro Sanchez defended the large-scale plan for legalizing migrants, emphasizing its "necessity" due to Spain's aging population and supporting the national economy – the fourth largest in the eurozone and currently one of the most dynamic in Europe.
"We are aware that migration processes bring challenges, it would be irresponsible to deny this statement", the Spanish Prime Minister stressed, expressing the opinion that "migration is a reality that must be managed responsibly, be linked to justice and be transformed into shared prosperity".
"This is a legalization procedure that we have already known in the last 40 years of democracy in our country, even during the rule of the People's Party governments", Sanchez stressed during a press conference in Beijing, where he is on an official visit. With his statement, the Prime Minister addressed both the People's Party, the main political party in the Spanish opposition, and the far-right "Vox", which oppose the measure.