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The Council of Ministers of Spain approved on Tuesday the Royal Decree that initiates the extraordinary regularization of migrants in irregular situations, a historic measure that could benefit between 500,000 and 840,000 people, including thousands of Cubans.
The president Pedro Sánchez announced the approval through an open letter to the public and social media posts, describing the measure as an act of normalization, recognizing the reality of nearly half a million people who are already part of our everyday life.
Spain had not carried out a mass regularization since 2005, when the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero regularized about 700,000 people, making this decision the most significant in immigration matters in 21 years.
The measure originates from a Popular Legislative Initiative supported by more than 600,000 signatures, which reached Congress but was stalled due to a lack of political agreement, and which the Government announced on January 26 it would take on through a decree.
To qualify for regularization, migrants must have arrived in Spain before January 1, 2026, must demonstrate at least five months of continuous residence at the time of application, and must have no criminal record in Spain or in their country of origin in the past five years.
Applicants for international protection who submit their request before December 31, 2025 will also be able to benefit.
Telematic applications can be started from Thursday, April 16, in-person applications from April 20, and the deadline closes on June 30, 2026.
The initial authorization will be for one year, renewable, and from the acceptance of the application —in approximately 15 days— provisional residence and work is authorized throughout the national territory.
The Cuban community in Spain reached approximately 287,490 registered individuals by the end of 2025, following the arrival of over 35,200 Cubans during that year, making it one of the groups with the greatest potential for benefit.
However, Cubans face specific obstacles: the legalization of documents at the Spanish Consulate in Havana takes between four to six months, worsened by the regime's bureaucracy and frequent power outages.
The lawyer Mario Dueñas warned that these delays make it difficult to meet the June 30 deadline, which could exclude many Cubans who, in theory, would meet the requirements.
Regularization also presents itself as a crucial alternative for those whose asylum applications have been denied: in 2025, Spain only granted international protection to between 36 and 38 Cubans, rejected more than 150 applications, and shelved 998 cases without thorough evaluation.
The measure has generated strong opposition from the Popular Party and Vox: the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, described it as a distribution of ballots, not papers, while the popular MEP Dolors Montserrat called it an attack on European migration policy.
The European Commission confirmed that regularization falls under national competence and does not violate the European Union's Migration Pact, although Commissioner Magnus Brunner warned that a residence permit is not a blank check.
Sánchez defended the measure with an argument that directly addresses its critics: migration is a reality that must be managed responsibly, integrated justly, and transformed into shared prosperity.
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