European Countries Begin Opening Doors to Migrants, Queues Immediately Surge

Long queues were seen in southern Spain on Monday (20/4) as counters for the direct service under the mass amnesty programme for undocumented migrants opened. Migrants with appointments queued outside immigration offices, while many others attempted to apply for vulnerability certificates and council registrations at town halls, two documents required for the regularisation process. “I arrived at 06:30, but there were already many people. I should have come earlier,” said Enrique Solana, a migrant from Colombia, after police officers informed them that they could not serve all applicants. This amnesty forms the basis of Prime Minister Socialist Pedro Sánchez’s plan to leverage the economic benefits of migration to counter Spain’s ageing population. This step contrasts with the trend in most European governments, which are instead tightening migration policies amid rising support for right-wing parties. The arrival of foreigners in Spain has increased to one million people per year, up from around 300,000 per year over the past decade. Migrants have filled three out of every four new jobs created since 2019 and contributed 47% to economic growth since 2022, according to research institute Funcas. To reduce the burden on the system, the government has designated only five of Spain’s 54 immigration offices to handle amnesty applications in person, with the rest redirected to social security offices, post offices, and non-governmental organisations.