Spain to match jobs for 500k migrants

Spain will introduce a plan to match migrants with employers as part of its programme to grant legal status to around half a million undocumented workers, the country’s top immigration official told Reuters on May 22. The measure adds a labour-market component to a regularization drive approved by the government in April and presented as a way to support growth and shore up Spain’s welfare state. The programme has drawn criticism from far-right groups, which sought to halt it in court, while the Socialist-led coalition says the policy responds to labour shortages and an ageing population. Reuters reported that the new matching effort will focus on sectors including construction, tourism, transport and care services. ### Who is running the plan, and what exactly did Madrid announce? Pilar Cancela, Spain’s secretary of state for migration, said the authorities would help migrants who receive provisional work permits find formal jobs. She told Reuters the government saw the approach as both humanitarian and economic, and said it would make public services and pensions more sustainable. The Migration Ministry will also run a voluntary survey of successful applicants to identify their skills and where they want to work, Reuters reported. (yahoo.com) April 14 marked the formal launch of the broader regularization programme, when Spain’s Cabinet approved a decree opening a path to residence and work permits for roughly 500,000 undocumented migrants already in the country. Elma Saiz, the minister for inclusion, social security and migration, said at the time that approved applicants would receive a one-year residence and work authorization, a Social Security number and a regional public healthcare card. (yahoo.com) ### How many people are affected, and what numbers has the government given? Reuters reported that government lawyers told a Supreme Court hearing on Friday that 549,596 people had applied in the programme’s first month, citing Spanish state broadcaster TVE. TVE also reported that 91,505 temporary work permits had already been granted, though the ministry declined to confirm those figures to Reuters. (english.elpais.com) Spain has said the programme is aimed at adults who entered the country before January 1, 2026 and can prove five consecutive months of residence at the time of application. El País reported that the decree also tightened criminal-record requirements and gave applicants a route to obtain certificates from their countries of origin through diplomatic channels if needed. (yahoo.com) ### Which employers is Spain trying to connect them with? Reuters said the government is working with business groups in construction, tourism, transport and care services to measure labour demand and coordinate with migrants seeking regular work. Those sectors are central to Spain’s labour shortages and include jobs tied to elder care, hospitality and local services. (english.elpais.com) Spain estimates it needs about 2.4 million more people paying into social security over the next decade to sustain the welfare state, Reuters reported. Think-tank Funcas has estimated that around 840,000 undocumented migrants are already working off the books in Spain, mainly from Latin America. ### Why is the government linking legalization to jobs? Pedro Sánchez’s government has argued that the policy is meant to bring people already living and working in Spain into the formal system. (yahoo.com) Elma Saiz called the decree a measure with “social, political, and economic” legitimacy and said regularized migrants would gain rights while also taking on obligations. A research paper from Esade Business School, cited by Reuters, said Spain’s previous large-scale regularization in 2005 led to some job losses in the informal sector. Reuters said the current strategy is intended to move thousands of workers out of the shadow economy and into formal employment. ### What happens next in the rollout? The Migration Ministry’s next step is the skills survey and employer coordination described by Cancela, according to Reuters. (english.elpais.com) Applications to the regularization programme opened in April and run until late June 2026, according to reporting by El País and InfoMigrants on the decree’s timetable and eligibility rules. (yahoo.com)