Spain will introduce a plan to match migrants to jobs under a programme to grant legal status to around half a million undocumented workers to help drive economic growth, the country’s top immigration official told Reuters.
The programme, announced in January, has been criticised by far-right leaders in Spain and across Europe, but the Socialist-led coalition government argues migration will help the Spanish economy continue to outpace its European peers by creating a younger workforce as the general population ages.
In a Supreme Court hearing on Friday after far-right groups filed an injunction to halt the regularisation, government lawyers said 549,596 people had applied in the programme’s first month, slightly exceeding the initially expected demand, according to state broadcaster TVE, which cited unidentified sources.
The government has already granted 91,505 temporary work permits, TVE reported. The ministry declined to confirm the figures to Reuters.
Secretary of State for Migration Pilar Cancela said in an earlier interview the state could handle up to one million applications, noting the requests would outnumber permits granted. The authorities also have a plan to help migrants find formal jobs, she added.
Cancela said it was a smart approach to immigration, both humanitarian and economic, which would make public services and pensions more sustainable.
Spain needs approximately 2.4 million more people paying into social security over the next decade to sustain its welfare state, according to official estimates.
Think-tank Funcas estimates there are around 840,000 undocumented migrants working off the books, mainly from Latin America.
Out of the shadows
The job-matching strategy aims to move thousands out of the shadow economy to stem labour shortages in key sectors.
“It’s a huge opportunity to harness the potential of all these people who are already helping to build the country alongside us, often working in precarious conditions,” Cancela said, adding “real integration” would follow once they find a formal job.
The Migration Ministry will conduct a voluntary survey of those granted provisional work permits to understand their skills and where they would like to work.
The government is partnering with business groups in the construction, tourism, transport and care services sectors to assess labour demand and coordinate with regularised migrants looking for work.
A research paper by Esade Business School warned that a previous programme to regularise migrants in 2005 led to some job losses in the informal sector.
It recommended more labour inspections and programmes to support the transition to formal employment.
Cancela said the ministry’s plan would also be accompanied by increased labour inspections.
“I think it’s also a major opportunity to bring certain situations to light, because when people come forward in the regularisation process, we will learn about their circumstances,” she said.
(Reporting by Corina Pons; Editing by David Latona, Sharon Singleton and Gus Trompiz)
