Pedro Sanchez has announced a €505million plan aimed at helping migrants settle in Spain, alongside the creation of a new state agency to oversee migration policy.
Speaking in Madrid on Tuesday, the prime minister unveiled the Plan for Integration and Citizenship, saying the measures would make Spain’s migration system ‘simpler, more coordinated and more effective.’
The government will also launch a new institutional campaign under the slogan: ‘De donde vienen? Vienen de hacer pais’ – which roughly translates to ‘Where do they come from? They come to help build the country.’
‘There is no integration without regular status,’ Sanchez said during the presentation, underlining the government’s commitment to expanding legal migration pathways while improving support for those already living in Spain.
Four key pillars
The plan is built around four main areas and includes 16 specific measures.
Among the most significant proposals are:
- An extraordinary regularisation process for certain undocumented migrants.
- A new Labour Mobility Strategy aimed at creating more legal, safe and orderly migration routes.
- The creation of a new State Human Mobility Agency, which will centralise responsibilities and resources that are currently spread across different government departments.
100,000 extra vocational training places
The employment section of the plan will receive €185million and includes measures to help migrants fill shortages in sectors struggling to recruit workers.
The government also pledged to create more than 100,000 additional vocational training (FP) places tailored to the needs of Spain’s labour market.
Another €30million will be invested in programmes designed to strengthen community cohesion, including language learning initiatives and measures to combat hate speech.
Meanwhile, more than €260million will go towards improving public services and promoting equal opportunities as part of the plan’s fourth pillar, which focuses on ensuring full participation in Spanish society.
The announcement comes as migration remains one of Spain’s most politically contentious issues, with the government arguing that legal migration will be essential to addressing labour shortages and supporting the country’s ageing population.
