Spain's Supreme Court takes on mass regularization, clashing with EU rules

Supreme Court halts mass regularization: clash with the EU

Can a country grant residence status simply because someone is in an irregular situation? That is the question Spain's Supreme Court has put on the table in an order dated June 24, 2026, to which EL MUNDO has had access. The high court warns that the mass regularization scheme approved by the Government "raises the doubt of whether it could come into conflict" with European Union rules, specifically the Pact on Migration and Asylum.

The decision comes in response to appeals from regional governments and opens a new legal front for the executive. The Supreme Court's logic is devastating: if irregular stay entitled someone to residence, any immigration law would be superfluous. Critical voices agree, seeing the measure as an insurmountable legal contradiction.

But the debate goes beyond the legal. Some interpret this wave of regularization as an electoral maneuver: granting nationality or residence to hundreds of thousands of people — many of them of Argentine origin, invoking the historical memory law for victims of repression — could alter the electoral roll. There is even talk of platforms like "PSOE Buenos Aires" to mobilize votes. Others, however, see it as an economic necessity for sectors that depend on cheap labor, such as hospitality. The irony: while Italy is tightening access for descendants, Spain is throwing its doors wide open.

The Supreme Court's order is on the table. Whether the Government can get around it is another story.