Spain’s left-wing government announced Tuesday it will expand free healthcare to undocumented migrants, bucking a European trend toward stricter immigration policies.
The measure will, for the first time, recognise the right of foreign nationals without legal residency in Spain to receive medical care, Migration Minister Elma Saiz said at a press conference.
The policy will also apply to Spanish citizens returning to live in Spain, those residing abroad who are temporarily in the country, and their accompanying family members, she added.
The measure was approved by royal decree, allowing it to bypass parliament, where Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s coalition government lacks a majority.
The government in January unveiled a plan to give residency and work permits to around 500,000 undocumented migrants.
The measure applies to all foreigners who arrived in the country before December 31, 2025, have lived in Spain for at least five months, and have no criminal record.
Sanchez has argued that immigrants are needed to fill workforce gaps and counterbalance an ageing population that would disrupt pensions systems and other state programmes.
But the right-wing has lashed out at the government, saying the regularisation will encourage more illegal immigration.
Spain’s stance contrasts with the harsh rhetoric and deportation efforts ramping up elsewhere in the European Union and in the United States.
“In the face of the wave of hatred, we guarantee everyone’s right to healthcare,” Health Minister Monica Garcia wrote on X after the plan was unveiled.
Spain is one of the main entry points for migrants seeking a better life in Europe, along with Italy and Greece.
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