Overview
- The application period closed on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 with registry counts reported between about 1.2 million and 1.33 million submissions, far above the government’s original estimates.
- The Spanish Supreme Court has formally signalled doubts about the decree’s compatibility with EU rules, set a five‑day deadline for parties to advise on referring questions to the Court of Justice of the EU and opened the option of pausing tramitations while those questions are resolved.
- The government has moved to defend the measure legally and unveiled a €505 million Plan for Integration and Citizenship to fund services, language programs and job training for those regularized.
- Administrative systems are strained because many applicants filed incomplete dossiers; authorities instructed people to register incomplete applications to trigger 15‑day cure periods and municipalities issued tens of thousands of vulnerability reports used as supporting evidence.
- The Supreme Court’s six lines of questioning focus on asylum procedure rules, the Return Directive, member‑state cooperation and Schengen movement rights, and a TJUE ruling could decide whether Spain’s one‑off regularization and its provisional work/residence permissions are lawful across the EU.