LARGE crowds of male migrants queued for paperwork in Spain after the country’s Socialist prime minister offered to legalize the status of around half a million foreign nationals.
Tech mogul Elon Musk then fell out with the left-wing PM Pedro Sánchez re-shared a post on X regarding the policy as CEO, calling the policy “electoral engineering”.
The plan will grant legal status to all foreign nationals who can prove they have no criminal record and have lived in Spain for at least five months before the start of 2026.
Once approved, migrants will be allowed to work legally and will be granted a one-year residence permit that can be extended.
Musk’s farce with the prime minister began when the owner of X forwarded to a tweet which claimed that Prime Minister Sanchez had “dropped the mask” with blatant “electoral engineering” “under the guise of defeating the far right”.
The post read: “The logic is simple: legalize half a million people, bring them to citizenship quickly (which takes as little as two years for many), and you’ve effectively imported a massive, loyal voting bloc beholden to the left.
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Musk shared X’s post and added “wow,” infuriating Sanchez, who hit back.
The Spanish prime minister replied: “Mars can wait, humanity cannot.”
It’s a shot at Musk Project Starship, which seeks to create the world’s most powerful rocket as part of SpaceX’s effort to get humanity to Mars.
Socialist Sánchez says his plan is necessary to combat labor shortages and support his country’s ailing economy.
As part of the legalization scheme, hundreds of men lined up outside the Pakistani consulate in Barcelona’s Eixample to receive certificates proving they had no criminal record.
Elma Saiz, Spain’s migration minister, called it a “historic day for our country”.
But the far-right party Vox was outraged by the move.
Leader Santiago Abascal accused Sánchez of “hating the Spanish” and “accelerating the invasion”.
Vox spokesman Pepa Millán said the plan “attacks our identity” and vowed to challenge the policy at the Supreme Court.
Popular Party (PP), SpainThe main opposition party also strongly objected to the government, saying the move would encourage more illegal immigration.
PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo warned that the move would “increase the drag effect and overwhelm our public services”.
It comes as Spain’s Canary Islands grapple with thousands of people arriving on their shores in dangerous small boats.
Government officials said the number of unaccompanied minors arriving had reached almost three times the official capacity as they admitted they were struggling to keep them all safe.
The growing migration crisis in the UK and Europe
Both the UK and Europe are currently facing significant challenges related to migration.
The UK is experiencing a surge in migration, particularly via small boats across the English Channel.
This has put enormous pressure on the asylum system, with thousands of asylum seekers being housed in hotels, costing the government billions a year.
In response, the British government is trying measures such as a “one-in, one-out” deal with France, which has again proved controversial.
Across Europe, migration policy is tightening as the influence of far-right anti-migration parties continues to grow.
Spain’s holiday islands have reached breaking point with near-daily arrivals of migrants on small boats, officials say.
Locals in Mallorca, Ibiza and Tenerife, among others, are at their “wits’ end” and have started to riot, according to the island’s governments.
Elsewhere, Italy recently signed a controversial deal with Albania to process up to 36,000 migrants a year outside the EU.
Poland, Hungary and Croatia have also been forced to strengthen their borders and strengthen ties with international allies to stem the number of migrants entering their countries.
Portugal has even been forced to close its doors to migrants entirely as they deploy police on beaches and order deportations within days.
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