The lives that await the word 'favorable'

PalmWhen Romina received her degree in digital communication in Argentina, she went out into the street in costume with her friends and they threw "eggs and a mix of things" at her to celebrate what they call "the receivedHe repeatedly imagines such a scene repeating itself; a fantasy of reliving it the day he obtains legal residency in Spain. He is 32 years old. He arrived in Palma almost three years ago, fleeing the instability and lack of opportunities in his country. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but not this difficult. "They don't recommend anyone come without papers. It's living 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with constant uncertainty and frustration," he acknowledges. During this time, he has survived with precarious jobs on the margins, "babysitting, cleaning houses, or selling bracelets at street markets." He accepts every job he gets. "I've even left my house at three in the morning to babysit for an hour. The child's mother is Colombian and had to work. People believe our stories," he recounts.

Eight months ago, he applied for residency based on social and employment ties, thanks to the help of a fellow countryman. Every day he waited for a positive notification about his application in his mailbox. "They told me I wouldn't find out by letter, but electronically. So every day I log into the Immigration portal and check if this 'In Process' status has changed. I wish it would say 'Almost There,' something closer to the 'Favorable' we all hope for. When you start the process, they give you...

By decree

The Spanish government's announcement of a mass regularization program, with much more lenient conditions, has caught her in this administrative limbo. Waiting. More than certainty, it has generated new questions. "I'm happy for everyone who can benefit, but does it affect those of us in my situation? Will they assign more officials to process applications? I want to believe they have a plan to sustain this new proposal." According to the central government, the measure seeks to recognize an existing reality: people who live and work in Spain without labor rights or legal protection. The process will be carried out by decree and includes provisional residence and work permits for those who meet certain residency requirements—five months of registration—and have no serious criminal record.

Romina's reaction is common among many immigrants in her situation: relief at the possibility of escaping this limbo mixed with distrust of an administration that subjects them to a bureaucracy that, until now, has been characterized by its slowness. Beatriz, a Colombian who arrived in Mallorca in August 2019, prefers not to get her hopes up too much about the announcement. She forces herself to be cautious. "We have to wait for them to study it properly and for lawyers and consultants to explain it to us. Just with the regulations they've issued in recent years, they're already stringing us along," she says, referring to the latest amendment to the Immigration Law, which reduced the waiting period for regularization from three to two years.

She's used to the fine print. And the fact that there seems to be none makes her suspicious. "The fact that it's easy makes me wary, because nothing I've experienced has been easy. I've gotten my hopes up many times. I emigrated irresponsibly, with improvisation and the motto 'God will provide.' You have to arrive knowing that the paperwork matters," she confesses. She does see the advantages of being registered in society: "Regularizing our status would allow for more control and would end a system that benefits those who want to keep us out. We study, we train, and then we do internships at companies that don't pay us anything for working. Or when you get a job under the table, they pay you whatever they want, or they don't pay you at all."

Six years after arriving in Mallorca, Beatriz, who has a degree in environmental technology that she hasn't been able to validate, lives with her whole family in Sóller. Her husband, an electronics engineer, is studying electrical engineering and Catalan, like her. They all work cleaning, caring for the elderly, or moving. Whatever comes their way. They are all undocumented and make ends meet hourly thanks to recommendations. At ten euros. At eight, if they have no other choice, at twelve "when they pay well."

Mamadou is 36 years old and has been living in Palma for more than two years. He dropped out of his university studies in Physics and Chemistry in Senegal to support his family. He can't validate his degrees, but he has already completed courses in gardening, computer skills, Spanish classes—although he had already studied it in his country and speaks it fluently—Catalan, and now, his secondary school diploma. Three months ago, he applied for residency based on socio-educational ties with a social integration report. He is waiting for a response. Now he feels more hopeful following the announcement by the Sánchez government. "I spent the day receiving phone calls from excited friends. Others sent me TikTok videos explaining everything. We didn't talk about anything else. I'm very happy for all immigrants, but we have to wait, because with politicians you never know what a search will do until the measure is in effect. We're not here to leave it in place, we're not here to leave it in effect," he says.

Political debate

The announcement of the regularization has also reignited the political debate. The president of the Balearic Islands government, Marga Prohens, didn't wait for any public event and, on social media, called the measure "irresponsible," while warning of the risk of a "pull factor" and insisting that the Balearic Islands are already under significant pressure on housing and public services. A few hours later, the Director General of Immigration, Manuel Pavón, elaborated on the People's Party's (PP) arguments, insisting that regularizations of this type "convey the idea that arriving irregularly is rewarded" and questioning whether having legal status guarantees integration. The PP has insisted on directly linking the beneficiaries of the announced process to the migrants who arrived in the Islands by boat. The Migration Observatory of the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) pointed out that the main beneficiaries of the measure will be those who entered legally through airports and whose visas expired, leaving them in an irregular administrative situation.

For his part, the Spanish Government Delegate in the Balearic Islands, Alfonso Rodríguez, described the measure as "courageous" and corrected the notion of a pull factor, since five months of residency are required. "It's about responding to people who are already here. It benefits workers, who gain in rights and obligations, and companies, which gain in legal certainty; it also helps to combat the underground economy," he added.

The process will open in April and is expected to take three months to complete, although applicants will be able to work legally fifteen days after their applications are accepted. The Balearic Islands Immigration Department is currently processing 10,800 regularization applications under the existing regulations. These are not, in any case, the potential beneficiaries of the mass regularization, a figure that is unknown precisely because of their irregular immigration status.

The government's discourse contrasts sharply with the position of social organizations that work daily with immigrants. NGOs, associations, and support platforms have defended regularization as a necessary tool to reduce labor exploitation and bring thousands of people out of the informal economy. Unions consider it key to guaranteeing basic rights and preventing abuses.

This discourse is also not shared by the main employers' associations in the Balearic Islands. CAEB, Pimem, and the Majorca Hotel Business Federation have received the government's announcement with a pragmatic approach, focused on a reality they are familiar with: the structural labor shortage and the existence of thousands of people who already live and work in the Balearic Islands without being able to do so legally.

Vacancy Coverage

Business organizations agree that regularizing these situations would bring undeclared work to light, provide legal certainty for companies and workers, and facilitate filling vacancies in sectors such as hospitality, cleaning, caregiving, and agriculture. In the case of SMEs, Pimem emphasized that irregularity benefits no one and that many employment relationships already exist de facto. Hoteliers, for their part, support the measure in principle, although they question the decree as a means of its approval.

While politicians debate planning, resources, and the effects of the measure, people like Romina insist on humanizing the situation of immigrants. "A human network is important for survival: you have to build it, socialize, and feel part of something. Friends and organizations like Cáritas help you get ahead," she asserts. She has already bought colored powder to sprinkle on her hair. She fantasizes about this new received, He'll send an urgent message to his people to shout, "We're legal!" That's when he'll go in for the last time to check the file and read the word "favorable."