BARCELONA, Spain — Nariola Romo, 34, and her family immigrated to Spain from Colombia, but that wasn’t their initial plan. Their goal was to travel to the United States, but they couldn’t obtain the two loans they needed to make the trip, so they sought a new life in Europe instead.

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“Things didn’t work out for us, and we thought it was God’s will that we didn’t get the chance to go there, and, well, here we are,” she said.

Today, as she nears obtaining legal status in Spain, she feels grateful for the turn her life has taken. “Look at how things are in the United States with migrants. It seems like God didn’t want us to be there, because with everything that’s happened, we would have been deported already,” she said.

In Spain, an extraordinary regularization process is underway that is expected to legalize the status of more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants.

If approved, the work and residence permit is valid for one year for adult immigrants, who will then have to demonstrate employment to maintain their permit. For minors, their status is regularized for five years.

It’s a contrast from the U.S., where President Donald Trump — who said during the 2024 presidential campaign that undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the country” — has conducted a massive campaign to detain and deport immigrants and stem immigration.

In Spain, the deadline for submitting applications is June 30, and the process is expected to take three months after the documents are submitted. The program, announced by the Spanish government in January, received over 43,000 applications in just three days when the application period opened on April 16. Within a month, the number of applications had risen to 549,596.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the move was an act of “normalization” and that the immigrants who will benefit from it are already part of the daily lives of Spaniards.

Romo’s family is one of those hoping to benefit from the measure.

“Fortunately, one day we found out through social media that a regularization process was coming, and from then on, we tried to make sure the time came quickly so we could complete the process,” said Romo, who, along with her family, has applied for the benefit.

After two years in Barcelona and the denial of asylum, which left the family in limbo in November 2025, Romo, her husband, who works in construction, their two children, ages 4 and 12, and her father have applied for regularization.

The family, originally from Barranquilla, had several businesses and fled Colombia in 2024 seeking safety, as they were facing threats and extortion from criminal gangs, said Romo, a teacher by profession who in Spain has worked at a warehouse and as a private tutor.

“To emigrate, you have to be incredibly brave, leaving your home, your business, your job, your colleagues, your family, everything. … I came with my life in a 10-kilo (22-pound) suitcase,” Romo said, adding she felt fortunate because “Spain is a country that welcomes immigrants.”

And although it was a difficult decision, Romo now feels at peace and believes they made the right choice. “I’m truly very happy as a mother to have my children here,” she said.

‘I will be able to work and help my family’

The situation for Diadji Nguirane’s family is different. Nguirane and his partner, Maimouna Gueye, both from Senegal, have three daughters born in Spain, and the mass regularization will only benefit him, since she and the girls already have legal status in the country.

“I have been in Spain for two years, and when I get my documents, that will be very favorable because I will be able to work and help my family,” said Nguirane, who just a few days ago received confirmation that his case was being processed.

So far, Nguirane says his only option has been “working occasionally helping a friend, doing maintenance tasks, but without a contract.”

Since Nguirane hasn’t been able to work legally, his partner, Gueye, has been supporting the family financially. She does cleaning work at a hospital in Terrassa, a town about 17 miles from Barcelona where they live. “I leave the house at 5 a.m. and he takes the girls to school,” Gueye said.

Once Nguirane gets his legal permit, Gueye hopes he can be hired for sanitation work at the hospital while still helping to take care of the children.

Nguirane’s family is also seeking safety and stability in Spain.

“Returning to Senegal is not in my plans because it is a country I have not lived in, it is a country I do not know, and whenever I go, even if it is for 15 days, it is difficult for me,” Gueye said.

The second major regularization in 20 years

To apply for regularization, immigrants must meet a number of requirements and provide documents.

In addition to a passport, immigrants must prove they were in Spain before Jan. 1, 2026, and had been in the country continuously for at least five months at the time of application, which they can show through a registration certificate, medical records or proof of having children enrolled in school.

Immigrants also have to provide proof — from their country of origin or wherever they have lived in the last five years — of a clean criminal record. In some cases, officials also request a vulnerability certificate, which can be issued by social service agencies to verify the difficult circumstances the person is experiencing, such as difficulty accessing employment or housing, among other issues.

This is not the first time Spain has opted to regularize its undocumented population.

“That’s been done several times already. The last time was 20 years ago with [the Zapatero government]. But this is a process that isn’t only done in Spain, but in every country in the world. … It’s common practice,” said Verónica Jaramillo, a lawyer at the Bayt al-Thaqafa Foundation, a Barcelona-based organization that supports migrants.

Although there are no official figures, the #RegularizacionYa movement, which is driving the current regularization process, estimated that 500,000 immigrants were undocumented in Spain. Meanwhile, the Funcas think tank estimated that number had risen to over 800,000 by 2025.

Regularization can benefit not only immigrants but also economies with aging populations, such as Spain’s. The country’s aging index reached record highs last year, with 148 people over 64 years old for every 100 who were under 16.

According to Jaramillo, any “self-respecting” country should do what Spain is doing, which is adding more people who can pay into its Social Security system.

“It is absolutely and totally utilitarian, yes,” Jaramillo said, but “that is the reason for the regularization.”

However, the measure has met with fierce opposition from right-wing parties, which have described it as irresponsible and a way to further collapse a country with certain public services that are already stretched to the limit.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a conservative who is president of the Madrid region, said that the measure to legalize immigrants was a way to “manipulate the census,” “culturally transform Spain” and “sabotage the elections.” However, immigrants who benefit from the legalization process will not be able to vote.

For the Romo and the Nguirane families, the hope is that the mass regularization will change their life prospects in a country where they seek not only to settle, but also to put down roots.