By Dinesh Giri, BARCELONA:-  Spain’s Supreme Court has removed the last major legal obstacle to the Sanchez government’s extraordinary regularization campaign. The ongoing program is expected to grant residence and work permits to nearly half a million foreign nationals who can prove they are already residing in the country by January 1, 2026.

In a ruling issued late on May 22, the Supreme Court’s Administrative Chamber rejected precautionary appeals from the Community of Madrid, the far-right Vox party and three civic associations that had sought to suspend the decree while wider appeals were heard.

The judges found no evidence of the “irreparable harm” claimed by the plaintiffs and ruled that the integration of people already in Spain would outweigh the hypothetical administrative burden on regional services.

For employers – and especially for sectors such as agriculture, logistics and domestic care that rely heavily on undocumented labor – this decision provides clarity.

According to the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Immigration, more than 549,000 applications had been filed as of Thursday evening; of these, 91,505 have already received temporary work permits.

Human resources teams can therefore start onboarding candidates, although the initial permit is only valid for one year and must later be converted to standard residence categories.

Legal advisers point out that applicants must provide evidence of at least five consecutive months of residence before 2026 and meet basic integration criteria.

As the program is limited to Spain, beneficiaries will not have automatic mobility to the rest of the EU. Nevertheless, multinationals with Spanish operations see the move as a way to tap previously informal talent pools while reducing compliance risks around subcontracting.

Politically, the ruling is also significant. It undermines a high-profile campaign by regional and opposition figures who have warned of pressure on public services and alleged breaches of EU law.

The court accepted the appellants’ position, meaning that the substantive case will continue, but the regularisation itself will remain in force – allowing businesses, local authorities and migrants to plan with greater certainty.