Madrid (EFE).- Spain’s Supreme Court rejected on Friday the suspension of the government’s extraordinary migrant regularization program, as requested by the Community of Madrid government, the far-right party Vox, and other plaintiffs.
The Spanish royal decree for mass regularization took effect on Apr. 16, aiming to grant residency and work permits to approximately 500,000 migrants who had lived in Spain for at least five months before Jan. 1.
On Thursday, the Spanish government had received 549,596 applications, 91,505 of which had been accepted for processing, granting applicants provisional authorization to reside and work in Spain.
After over three hours of deliberation, the Third Chamber announced that the Supreme Court had rejected the civil associations’ appeals for processing.
Although the Court recognized the legitimacy of Vox and the Community of Madrid, it rejected their request for a precautionary suspension of the royal decree, deeming the associations unqualified to challenge the measure.
In the coming days, the Court’s specific arguments will be revealed when the respective orders are issued.
Sources from HazteOir, an ultraconservative association and one of the plaintiffs, reported that they will appeal the decision and the denial of the precautionary measure «due to the serious risk involved in not admitting the measure urgently.»
The plaintiffs argued that the approved decree is contrary to national and European law and maintained that it could cause a collapse of public services, such as healthcare, and increase public spending.
In addition, they alleged that it would impact the electoral census. The government refuted these allegations.
As of Friday, the government, through the State Attorney, defended the measure, stating that it aims to integrate people already in Spain through an «especially limited» process, which will positively impact GDP growth in the medium and long term, and will not affect the next elections because voting is limited to nationals.
The Spanish government’s regularization program will allow beneficiaries to reside and work temporarily only in Spain, not the rest of Europe.EFE
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