Regularization of 1.2 million migrants in Spain threatens minimum income scheme

Mass regularization: the bill for the minimum income scheme is soaring

How much does it cost to open the door to 1.2 million people when the coffers are already stretched? Spain's extraordinary regularization drive, pushed forward by the Government, has admitted more than 70% of applications for processing, and the first fiscal impact is coming into view: the Ingreso Mínimo Vital (Spain's minimum living income) and other benefits could face unexpected pressure. There are no reliable figures on how many of those regularized will pay into social security and how many will need assistance, but the risk that a significant proportion will not find work makes the calculation a costly unknown.

The spending does not stop at benefit payments. Education is the great forgotten chapter: each primary or secondary school pupil costs an average of 8,000 euros a year, and a migrant family with three school-age children means close to 30,000 euros annually on schooling alone, including school meal grants. A breakdown that, once laid on the table, unsettles anyone who talks about integration without a budget.

Meanwhile, fatalism prevails: "Here comes the shock", "Time to row". The irony, in this case, has a numerical basis. Because the problem is not just who receives the minimum income, but who pays the bill for integrating this population when the system is already struggling. The optimists pin their hopes on social security contributions; the pessimists point out that a temporary residence permit is not the same as a job. And the permit printer, meanwhile, never rests.