Spain to Grant 1-Year Residence & Work Permits to 25,000 Migrants Affected by Storm

Thousands of migrants affected by the storm DANA that impacted several Spanish provinces on October 29, 2024, who are living in Spain in an irregular situation, will be granted one-year residence and work permits by the Spanish government.

The flood left 232 people dead and devastated about 80 municipalities, the majority of them in Valencian Community, Schengen.News reports. 

The new changes will be approved by the Spanish Council of Ministers within a framework of actions that will facilitate the process of granting permits for migrants who lived or worked in the affected areas; government sources told El Pais. 

Nearly 25,000 people will be eligible to obtain legal status following the implementation of these new changes. Taking into account permit extensions already issued, the total number of beneficiaries could reach about 98,000, according to the El Pais report. 

Thousands of Latin Americans Affected 
Rainfall and flash floods that caused massive disruption in several Spanish areas on October 29, 2024, also affected thousands of Latin Americans from Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico, Honduras and Venezuela living in parts of eastern and southern Spain. 

Authorities in Spain also said that in the case of foreign relatives of those affected by late-October’s storm, the authorization will be valid for a period of five years. 

According to a report from La Razon, automatic extensions will bring benefits to students, volunteers as well as long-term permit holders whose permits are close to expiring. The new changes prevent them from becoming undocumented if they are not able to renew their permits or no longer meet the requirements to obtain them.

The same source notes that undocumented immigrants will be eligible to get legal status through a residence permit for exceptional circumstances. To apply for this permit, they are required to register or have an appointment to do so in one of the 80 flood-affected municipalities. In addition, their spouses, minor children and adult children with disabilities can also apply for this permit. 

The new measure aims to guarantee the protection for migrants who, due to their irregular administrative situation, would be left without access to aid that has been approved for those affected by October’s storm. 

The recently introduced regulation will be the seventh extraordinary procedure in Spain and the first in twenty years. The last process of this kind was carried out by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in 2005. It affected over half a million people.

Source: https://schengen.news/spain-to-grant-1-year-residence-work-permits-to-25000-migrants-affected-by-storm/