That reasoning may sound pragmatic, but it ignores the fact that the rule of law does not consist only of pragmatically managing the status quo. It also requires credibility. Anyone who retrospectively turns illegal entry or illegal residence into regular status sends a signal that will be understood far beyond Spain.
That is precisely the political core of the conflict. An amnesty creates order in the short term by establishing legality. In the long term, however, positively sanctioning illegal entry will only attract more migrants with the same expectations. Anyone who sees a European state turning irregular residence into legal status after only a few months will hardly assume that it will remain a one-off exception.
The government denies that there will be such a pull effect and points to cut-off dates and deadlines. Political experience shows, however, that deadlines deter only when the state enforces its rules permanently and visibly.
Administration at the Limit
The first weeks under the new rules already show that the administration is under heavy pressure. Media reports describe long queues, including outside Moroccan and Algerian consulates, as applicants seek birth certificates, criminal record extracts and other documents. At the Moroccan consulate in Madrid, more than 1,000 people are said to have applied for documents in just a few hours on a single day. The problem was foreseeable. A state that launches hundreds of thousands of procedures within a short period must expect overload.
The number of potential applicants is politically sensitive. Officially, the figure is around 500,000 people. The Associated Press, however, reports that experts estimate the number of people who may actually qualify and are currently living illegally in the country at up to 840,000. That range alone shows how difficult the state apparently finds it to quantify the scale of the problem precisely. Nor is it clear what will happen if more than 500,000 people now apply.
Even if supporters point out that Spain’s economy is in better shape than many of its neighbors and that the country needs workers, the objection remains that labor shortages do not justify a migration-policy gamble. People who are needed should be allowed to come legally, verifiably and on the basis of clear criteria. Spain is replacing integration with arbitrary legalization. An orderly immigration policy would have to begin at the border, not at the counters of overwhelmed authorities.
Responsibility for the EU’s External Borders
Spain’s decision also comes at a time when citizens across Europe are visibly losing trust in political promises. Illegal migration will be limited and the European Union’s external borders will be protected. That is the promise made across the continent. Governments insist that smugglers will be fought and procedures accelerated. Yet when images from Spain show waiting lines, new special programs and a government presenting as progress what was previously treated as illegal, it amounts to a blow to the rule of law.
As an EU country, Spain’s responsibility does not end at its own national borders. Anyone with legal residence status in an EU member state also enjoys freedom of movement within Europe. The fact that European partners cannot rely on knowing to whom Spain grants legal status is an incalculable risk for everyone.
