Spain’s Amnesty Reveals the True Scale of Illegal Immigration
19th June 2026
Spain’s mass migrant amnesty has attracted almost 900,000 applications, exposing a far larger illegal immigration population than the government previously admitted.
According to the latest figures, the total has already far surpassed the government’s original estimate of around 500,000 beneficiaries and even exceeds higher internal projections of 750,000, despite the application window remaining open until June 30. Around 360,000 applications have already been formally accepted for processing.
The last time Spain carried out a major migrant amnesty was in 2005 under the Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. That program received just over 691,000 applications and granted approximately 576,000 residence permits. The current scheme has already attracted more applications than that record, even though the deadline has not yet passed.