The extraordinary regularization process for migrant people promoted by the Spanish government is seen as a “historic” opportunity for tens of thousands of people in an irregular administrative situation in the Balearic Islands. However, jurists and legal professionals also warn of technical shortcomings and application difficulties that have generated uncertainty and occasional collapses in the first few days.

The Palma City Council has assured that it does not plan to reinforce the Social Services area due to the regularization process for migrants promoted by the central government and has defended that the service “is functioning normally”, despite the queues recorded these days at the citizen service offices (OAC).

The Palma City Council has assured that it does not foresee reinforcing the Social Services area following the migrant regularization process promoted by the central government and has defended that the service “functions normally”, despite the queues registered these days in the citizen service offices (OAC).

The Palma City Council has reported that from this Tuesday, the number of Local Police officers will be increased in the queues that form at the Citizen Service Offices due to the large influx of people. They have also urged the Spanish government delegation to mobilize National Police officers in the same way. However, what the Martínez government does not plan to reinforce is the service of attention, given the avalanche of migrant people who come to the offices since the regularization process began.

The EAPN Balearic Islands Network for Inclusion has detected political guidelines in island town halls to curb the reinforcement of personnel in social services that are attending to migrants in the processing of vulnerability certificates within the framework of the extraordinary regularization process.

The Spanish government's announcement of the regularization of 500,000 immigrants prompted an immediate reaction from the Catalan government. It reacted in its usual fashion, with much grandstanding and threats to challenge the measure in court, etc. Everything outlined, point by point, in the talking points sent from the People's Party headquarters on Génova Street in Madrid. But then the spokesperson for the Catalan government, Antoni Costa, wanted to add his own perspective. He stated that he felt the Spanish government was "giving away" residency to immigrants and that more requirements should be added to the regularization process: for example, that immigrants learn Catalan. "Here we have, and I say this clearly, our own language. And those who want to obtain legal residency in Spain, and in this region in particular, must demonstrate a willingness to learn our own language." He said this with dramatic pauses and facial expressions for emphasis. He also asserted that "here we have customs and traditions, and it is those who sell [these things] who must adapt, not the other way around."

One of the best pieces of news these days has been the state government's announcement, twenty years after the last one, of a new regularization process for undocumented migrants residing in Spain. This is excellent news in terms of human rights and citizenship, even though the denial of human rights, including genocide, has become socially accepted today.

The Spanish government's delegate in the Balearic Islands, Alfonso Rodríguez, denied on Tuesday that the extraordinary regularization of undocumented migrants, which the Pedro Sánchez administration intends to implement, would create a pull factor, as applicants will be required to have resided in Spain for at least five months. "It's about providing a solution for people who are already here," he emphasized, according to the EFE news agency. Rodríguez was responding to criticism from the regional president, Marga Prohens, whom he accused of adopting "the far-right's migration policies." Rodríguez stressed that the extraordinary regularization is "a courageous measure" to guarantee the socio-labor rights of hundreds of thousands of people. He also noted that the process will begin in April and is expected to take three months, although applicants can begin working legally fifteen days after their applications are accepted. This is the seventh mass regularization—the PSOE carried out four and the PP two, in 2000 and 2001. Rodríguez indicated that the Immigration Department in the Balearic Islands is currently processing 10,800 regularization applications under the current regulations. This would represent the minimum number of people who would benefit from the extraordinary process. According to Spanish government data, there are 102,000 foreigners registered with Social Security in the Balearic Islands, of whom approximately 60,000 are from non-EU countries. The delegate emphasized that regularization "benefits workers, who gain in rights and obligations; companies, which gain in legal certainty; and it helps in the fight against the underground economy."