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Are women behind the move in Spain to legalize undocumented immigrants?
DW Reporter Souwie Buis concludes that women have been a major part of the process for hundreds of thousands of migrants in Spain seeking legal status through a new amnesty measure.
DW
Updated:
6:01
Migrants queue at a public service office to obtain paperwork needed to apply for Spain’s immigration amnesty, which could allow hundreds of thousands of people to obtain legal status, in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat near Barcelona, Spain, April 21, 2026.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Migrants in Spain recently began applying to legalize their status. The government passed an amnesty measure that offers undocumented immigrants a one-year, renewable residence permit if they have spent five months living in the country and have a clean criminal record.
It’s a radical move, and one that once again sets Spain on a very different course to its European neighbors.
So, what’s been going on in Spain to make such daring policies possible? Well, one answer is grassroots organizing.
From our partners at Deutsche Welle, DW, Reporter Souwie Buis has been taking a closer look — and concluded that women are a major part of the story.
Click on the player to hear the full story.