Spain's immigration workers cancel strike after deal to ease workload

Workers at immigration offices in Spain called off a planned strike after reaching a deal that addressed their concerns about a rising workload following a mass amnesty programme for undocumented migrants, union group CCOO said.

Unions representing immigration officers cancelled the strike due to start next week after securing ‌a pay ⁠rise ⁠of 10% to 18% for all staff and an agreement to fill 700 vacant positions, union leader Cesar Perez told Reuters on Thursday.

Union leaders had warned that an already stretched system wouldn't be able to cope with the volume of applications a plan to legalise about 500,000 undocumented migrants in the coming months is expected to generate. CCOO ⁠warned earlier ‌this year that immigration offices were struggling, with fewer than 2,000 workers processing around 1.7 million cases annually, causing backlogs ⁠of up to a year.


The amnesty is a cornerstone of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's plan to harness the economic benefits of migration to compensate for Spain's ageing population, which bucks a trend by other European governments to tighten migration as support for far-right parties rises.

Foreign arrivals in Spain have risen to 1 million a year from around 300,000 a year ‌over the past decade. Migrants have filled three of every four new jobs created since 2019 and have accounted for 47% of economic growth ⁠since 2022, according to think tank Funcas.

To ease pressure on the system, the government has said that just five of Spain's 54 immigration offices will handle amnesty applications directly, with the rest distributed among social security offices, post offices and non-governmental organisations.

In-person appointments for undocumented migrants will open from April 20. Applicants have until the end of June to apply for a permit to live and work in Spain.