Spanish government urges Supreme Court to reject block on 500,000-person migrant regularisation

Spain's central government has asked the Supreme Court to reject the precautionary suspension of the decree for the extraordinary regularisation of migrants, arguing that an immediate halt would have a "direct impact" on both foreign nationals and "the general interest".

The government outlines its position in a document the state attorney has submitted to the Supreme Court.

The document responds to the appeal the Hazte Oír association filed against the regulation the Spanish cabinet approved in April. In its brief, the state's legal services ask the Supreme Court to dismiss the appeal "for lack of standing" of the appellant organisation or, alternatively, to reject the requested precautionary measures.

The state attorney believes that suspending the regulation would render the government's approved legislation practically ineffective and would particularly harm potential beneficiaries. "These individuals would be left in a legal limbo while awaiting the resolution of the appeal," the government states in the document.

The government of PM Pedro Sánchez also states that there is a "citizen interest" in the extraordinary regularisation. The popular legislative initiative on this issue gathered more than 600,000 signatures and obtained broad parliamentary support.

The contested regulation incorporates two new residency permits within immigration regulations. One is for applicants seeking international protection whose applications have been rejected and who, according to the government, risked becoming undocumented despite having resided in Spain for years.

The second creates a form of "extraordinary residency permit" for people in vulnerable situations or with proven ties to the country.

The document highlights that the potential beneficiaries were already residing in Spain before 1 January 2026 and that many already use public services such as healthcare and education. Therefore, it rejects the argument that regularisation will have an immediate impact on these systems.

Furthermore, it states that residency permits will facilitate these individuals' entry into the workforce and increase social security contributions.

The state's legal services also question Hazte Oír's standing to appeal the decree. The document says that the association bases its legitimacy on "broad and generic statutory purposes", such as the defence of "constitutional values" or "legality", but fails to demonstrate any specific harm resulting from the regulation.

"The Supreme Court has stressed that a mere abstract interest in defending legality is not a valid legitimising reason," the document states, noting that the legal system does not contemplate a general popular action in this area.

The state attorney also rejects the claim that there is any irreversible harm resulting from the application of the decree. It states that the residence permits in question are administrative in nature and could be reviewed in the event of a ruling against the regulation.

The Supreme Court will hold several hearings this week to study the requests for precautionary suspension against the decree, which the region of Madrid, Vox and other associations have also appealed.