Reuters: Spanien legaliserar 900 000 illegaler för att rädda välfärdsstaten

Spain will legalise about 300,000 undocumented immigrants per year over the next three years as it seeks to expand its labour force in the face of an ageing population

Spain has to opt between being an open, prosperous country or being a closed and poor one, and we have chosen the former," Saiz said, adding that the nation needs around 250,000 to 300,000 tax-paying foreign workers a year to sustain its welfare state.

MADRID, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Around 57,000 migrants entered Spain irregularly last year, almost double the 2022 number as arrivals on the Canary Islands in fragile boats from west Africa surged to record levels, official data showed on Wednesday.
The Spanish government last year intensified its contacts with authorities in countries such as Senegal and Mauritania to try to reverse the trend. Spain also had to create additional emergency accommodation for migrants in military barracks, hotels and hostels across the country.

A total of 56,852 migrants illegally entered Spain by land or sea in 2023, an 82% year-on-year increase and the highest number since 2018, when 64,298 arrivals were registered, Interior Ministry data showed.
The Canary Islands accounted for the bulk of the arrivals, 39,910 - up 154% from a year earlier and surpassing the archipelago's previous record of 2006 when 31,678 people arrived.