Sánchez’s government called Feijóo’s comments “profoundly irresponsible” and said he had deliberately conflated two different policies. The beneficiaries of the legalization process that has just concluded cannot vote in Spanish regional or national elections because they are being granted resident permits, and voting rights are reserved for citizens.
After being criticized for his inconsistency, Feijóo on Thursday appeared to reverse course. “We agree that a grandchild, where there is a very clear line of descent, should be entitled to Spanish citizenship,” he said during a speech in Santander, but added that he still believed the government had failed to be transparent while doing so.
While Feijóo backtracked, the far-right Vox party renewed its criticism of the government’s migration policies, which parliamentary spokesperson José María Figaredo said amounted to “silent electoral fraud.” The party on Thursday called for a review of the existing legislation, as well as the suspension of mail-in voting rights for Spaniards living abroad, arguing the process was susceptible to manipulation and could result in a “delayed coup d’état.”
Nearly 1.2 million unauthorized migrants applied for legal status within the framework of Spain’s mass legalization drive, the Spanish Ministry of Migration announced on Thursday.
According to the Ministry, 609,737 of the 1,174,968 that applied before the June 30 deadline had already had their applications admitted for processing and received provisional residence and work permits. Nearly 11,000 applicants have already been granted full legal status under the terms of the extraordinary royal decree approved by the Spanish government last April.
Migration Minister Elma Saiz noted that 67 percent of the applications had been filed by migrants from Central and South America. Colombians accounted for the largest share of applicants, followed by migrants from Morocco, Venezuela and Peru. The scheme, she added, allows “hundreds of thousands of people who already reside in our country, but with fear and without rights, to face the future with enthusiasm and hope.”
The total number of applications filed far exceeds the government’s expectations. When the royal decree was approved, authorities anticipated that around 500,000 unauthorized migrants would seek legal status under the terms of the measure, which applies to people who had been living in Spain for at least five months and had no criminal record.