Sánchez defends Spain’s 600,000-migrant plan at EU summit

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez rejected criticism of his government’s plan to give legal status to roughly 600,000 undocumented migrants at an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on Oct. 16, after Denmark, Austria and the Czech Republic questioned the move, Euronews reported.

The dispute matters because Spain’s decision, formally approved in April 2026, has become the sharpest migration split among EU governments, and it comes weeks before Spaniards vote. The European Commission can review national measures for compliance with EU rules but has not declared the programme illegal, Euro Weekly News reported.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen asked the Commission to examine the implications of Spain’s measures and argued that mass legalization could act as a pull factor for illegal entry, according to Euro Weekly News. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker called the plan a “bad signal” with possible consequences for the whole union, Euronews reported. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš warned that his country could tighten border controls on migrants arriving from other EU states.

Sánchez said the criticism had “nothing to do with reality” and called it “blah, blah, blah,” Euronews reported. He said the Czech criticism sounds like what the far-right Vox party says in Spain, and he described Spain as a “model pupil” on migration, citing Atlantic interceptions, returns and refusals of entry at airports. He said the EU migration and asylum pact, which he said Spain helped secure during its EU presidency, “is working.” He also denied that Spain is moving migrants to other EU countries, according to Euro Weekly News.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not single out Spain. She said irregular EU border crossings have fallen by more than 56 per cent over two years, called for full implementation of the pact, and said the Commission will propose strengthening the EU border agency Frontex, Euronews reported.

Denmark, Poland and Italy pushed for summit conclusions to include an indirect reference to Spain’s plan. A revised draft urging states to avoid measures that “may create incentives for illegal migration” was softened into a shorter, less forceful text, and Spain and France opposed the changes, Euronews reported. French President Emmanuel Macron said “ideological divisions” make EU states “ineffective” on migration and called the Ceuta crisis a “humanitarian tragedy” and a “hybrid attack” on Spain. France did not sign a letter to Brussels from 22 EU countries.

Under the programme, applications were accepted from April 16 to June 30, 2026. Applicants had to have arrived in Spain before Jan. 1, 2026, and show at least five months of continuous residence. Successful applicants receive a one-year residence and work permit that does not automatically allow them to live or work in another EU country, Euro Weekly News reported. The Madrid government argues legal status will curb illegal work, protect workers’ rights and raise tax and Social Security revenue.

The numbers vary by outlet. Euronews and Euro Weekly News put the programme at about 600,000 people, while the Rio Times cited 500,000. Euro Weekly News stressed the figure is an estimate and not a count of permits granted. A Kuwait Times headline said more than one million migrants had applied, but Canada News Media could not confirm that figure in other coverage.

The row has already spilled into travel. Italy extended temporary border checks with Spain by seven days on Oct. 16, as Canada News Media reported in its coverage of the talks to follow. Canadians travelling in the Schengen area should carry their passports and check the Government of Canada’s advice at travel.gc.ca. Spain also heads to the polls on Nov. 29, as covered in our report on the vote, and the earlier summit coverage is in our report on the summit’s opening splits.

Via Euronews and Euro Weekly News.

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