Spanish Residency By “arraigo” Made Simple: What Was The Opposition Proposing For Spain’s Immigration Law?

The leader of Spain’s blimpish Popular Party (PP), Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, has precocious promoted a comprehensive, harder-line migration scheme that could fundamentally dismantle nan existent way to ineligible residency for semipermanent undocumented immigrants. 

Central to his connection is simply a drastic tightening of nan “Arraigo” (residency by roots) system, pinch nan thought of making it strictly conditional connected having regular activity and having already integrated to an grade into society. The connection straight challenges nan existent Spanish government’s recent reforms that came into effect successful May 2025, which sought to liberalise and simplify nan regularisation process.

The onslaught connected ‘arraigo’ and nan statement mandate

Under Spain’s existent laws, nan Arraigo strategy offers respective routes to impermanent ineligible residency. The astir common, “Arraigo Social“, traditionally required 3 years of continuous enactment and a occupation connection aliases contract. However, caller reforms (RD 1155/2024, for May 2025) person importantly broadened this, reducing nan required residence clip to 2 years successful definite cases and allowing replacement grounds of financial intends aliases self-employment alternatively of a mandatory contract.

Feijoo’s connection seeks to reverse this liberalisation. He explicitly stated that nan PP would limit residency permits by Arraigo, making them conditional connected possessing a activity statement aliases demonstrating an progressive occupation search. The logic, according to nan PP leader, is that immigrants must “contribute work” and should not beryllium “living disconnected welfare,” citing claims that complete half a cardinal immigrants are collecting benefits without working. Work, he argued, should beryllium nan “gateway” and nan “guarantee for integration”.

Introducing nan ‘temporary visa’ and expulsion

The plan’s halfway system for labour power is nan projected “temporary visa”. This visa would assistance migrants a constricted model to get hired. If a occupation is recovered and they integrate, they whitethorn stay; if not, they look expulsion. This caller visa, alongside a points-based introduction strategy for ineligible migration, is meant to to reconstruct “order” to nan existent system.

A higher barroom for Spanish residency

Integration, nether Feijoo’s vision, extends acold beyond a job. The PP proposes to summation nan taste and linguistic hurdles for obtaining Spanish nationality. The existent request for connection proficiency is nan A2 (lower intermediate) level connected nan Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). The PP intends to raise nan barroom to a B2 (upper intermediate) Spanish level, which represents a awesome jump successful fluency and comprehension, requiring substantially much study. This level of Spanish would fundamentally equate to nan expertise to support immoderate basal day-to-day conversation, moreover pinch definite grammar, vocabulary, aliases pronunciation issues.

Isn’t it conscionable pre-election bluster?

There is simply a debased likelihood of this argumentation having immoderate noticeable effect for those pinch economical intends to support themselves. Learning a B2 level of Spanish successful conscionable 3 years, while astatine nan aforesaid clip maintaining a occupation aliases different responsible activities, is improbable for most. Then, grounds of continuous activity would negate nan connection request anyway, arsenic could either of nan remaining 2 routes.

Feijóo insists that residency must beryllium a “merit”, not a “simple administrative task”. Under Feijoo’s caller arraigo ruling, applicants would request to motion a “Letter of Commitment” agreeing to travel Spanish customs, laws, and values, and they would person to walk a “reinforced test” astir nan country’s institutions, laws, and history. This would beryllium successful nan shape of a trial and is simply a return to what was already successful spot pre-May 2025 and is often cited arsenic being acold little difficult than its British counterpart. Mike S, a semipermanent resident successful Madrid, took said trial recently. The last question, he says, was “Who is Belen Esteban? (popular Spanish chat show guest). Then she told me, “Don’t worry, I’m only joking.”

Ultimately, nan PP’s proposals awesome a awesome move distant from nan existent humanitarian and labour-market-focused exemplary toward 1 centred connected stringent assimilation into Spanish society. However, small is apt to hap to make a large difference. The PP connection is simply to guarantee that residency by Arraigo is reserved for those who tin beryllium progressive publication and committedness to Spanish nine and not a drag connected it.