Spain's cabinet approved on Tuesday a decree launching an extraordinary regularisation programme for an estimated 500,000 undocumented migrants, the country's first such measure in 21 years. Under the scheme, applicants must prove they were in Spain before 1 January 2026, have resided there for at least five months, and hold a clean criminal record — but the government will assist those unable to obtain certificates from their home countries by requesting the documents through diplomatic channels over a three-month window. The move, backed by business groups and the Catholic Church but opposed by the conservative Partido Popular and the far-right Vox, is justified by the government on economic and demographic grounds, noting that foreign workers already account for 14% of Spain's social security contributors and have been a key driver of recent growth.