– DAVID ZORRAKINO – EUROPA PRESS
It is estimated that around 100,000 people in Catalonia will be able to benefit
L’HOSPITALET DE LLOBREGAT (BARCELONA), 30 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Government Delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto, has stated that the extraordinary regularization of migrants in Spain will contribute to the maintenance of the welfare state and to migrants obtaining a series of essential rights: «The only ones who lose are labor exploiters. Everyone else gains.»
This was expressed in a media briefing on Friday in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona), where he recalled that this will be the seventh extraordinary regularization carried out in Spain, and two of them were during the term of José María Aznar (PP), who regularized over half a million people.
Therefore, he expressed some surprise at «this shift of the Popular Party» because, in his words, this is not a new procedure in Spain.
Prieto stated that «probably more than 100,000» people will be able to benefit from regularization in Catalonia, but the exact number will be confirmed by the State Secretary for Migrations and the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migrations.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Prieto mentioned that some doubting this move aims to instill fear, but this fear is completely unfounded, in his exact words: «It is simply an attempt to politically manipulate something that is a matter of human rights, social rights, of people who already reside here and is absolutely essential for the dynamization of our economy.»
He highlighted that non-Spanish born individuals already make up 15% of social security affiliates and that he has spoken with almost all economic sectors who are requesting «more people willing to work because they need it for the economic growth of Spain.»
In this regard, he pointed out that the European Central Bank stated that Spain’s economic dynamism would not be possible without the contribution of migrants who have come from other countries «to work and contribute,» and that regularization will transition them from the underground economy to the real economy.
Prieto added that individuals wishing to benefit from this regularization will have to prove, by providing documentation, that they were in Spain before December 31, 2025, and denied the existence of a «call effect,» as the deadline is very limited.