Spain’s long-term care sector says it can absorb up to 160,000 newly regularized migrants, as the country prepares for an extraordinary legalization process expected to grant status to around 500,000 people. However, the employers' group stressed that legalization alone will not resolve severe staffing shortages and called for an “urgent” national plan to provide training and fast-track professional accreditation.
The Federación Empresarial de la Dependencia (FED), which represents private care homes and home-care providers across Spain, announced it could absorb and employ up to 160,000 newly regularized migrants, Europapress reported on Friday (February 20). It said the government's regularization drive presents an opportunity to tackle severe staffing shortages affecting residential facilities and in-home care services for the elderly and people with disabilities.
According to FED, the sector urgently needs roughly 160,000 workers — a shortfall that FED says could be partly filled by undocumented migrants who are regularized or given legal status under the government’s plan.
However, the employers’ group stressed that regularization is just a first step. Granting work and residency status to migrants is not enough to resolve the crisis. FED called for an "urgent" national plan to provide training and professional accreditation, arguing that proper qualifications and skills are essential to ensure quality care and sustainable integration into the workforce.
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Exponential need, especially in rural areas
Lower birth rates and longer life spans are driving Spain’s demographic winter. Over 20 percent of its population is estimated to now be between the ages of 65 or older, a share that is expected to grow.
Meanwhile, the number of qualified workers cannot keep up with the growing elderly population. FED describes the situation as “dramatic” and especially acute in rural areas, where services are already failing to meet demand. The FED warns that the current shortfall could skyrocket to 639,000 by 2030 if urgent measures are not taken.
“Currently, we are already in deficit by 160,000 professionals. This means that certain services are not provided. If I don’t have staff, how am I going to provide care? And if we go to the rural area, it is already scandalous, it is dramatic,” FED president Ignacio Fernández-Cid said in a statement.
Citing a report from the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda, the federation notes that Spain will need between 261,000 and 639,000 new care workers by 2030 to adequately support dependent populations. The most affected roles include geriatricians, nursing auxiliaries, home help personnel, and nurses, with home care seeing “exponential” demand and “structural” staffing shortages.
Fernández-Cid called on the government to speed up the accreditation of the skill and degree qualifications of foreign workers who are willing to work in the healthcare sector. “It is not acceptable that the Ministry of Education continues to take two and three years to recognize the degree of a professional who is already in Spain. And what is that professional going to do? Take care of a person at home, because they do not have a recognized degree, nor do they have a work permit, or a residence permit.” He added that speeding up the recognition of foreign degrees could allow 50,000 professionals to join the long-term care sector "tomorrow".
The federation is calling for an urgent national plan, including streamlined training, professional accreditation, improved working conditions, and better socio-health coordination to prevent critical care gaps, especially in rural communities where families are increasingly left without options for residential or in-home support.
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Health span, not just lifespan
Spain is one of Europe’s fastest-aging countries with an elderly population that is also living longer. According to government figures, a person living in Spain who is reaching 65 today can expect to live an additional 21 years on average. Broken down by gender, men are expected to live 19.06 years longer and 22.96 years for women.
Recent research has shifted attention to healthy life expectancy from age 65, reflecting the number of years older adults can live free from major disabilities or chronic illness. These figures highlight the dual challenge of supporting a growing elderly population while extending not just lifespan but healthspan, ensuring older adults remain independent and active for as long as possible.
Mass regularization
As part of Spain’s Integration and Intercultural Coexistence Plan, the Spanish government has launched an extraordinary regularization process to integrate foreign nationals already living in Spain. The initiative targets individuals who resided in Spain before 31 December 2025 and can prove a continuous stay of at least five months at the time of application, using public or private documentation. Applicants for international protection only need to have submitted their request before the cut-off date.
Eligible participants will receive a residence permit valid for one year, allowing them to work immediately in any sector across Spain. After this initial period, they can apply for standard residency status to enable full integration. The program is emphasizing human rights, social cohesion, and economic integration.
The process will run until 30 June 2026, with applications expected to start in early April, following completion of procedural requirements. Authorities aim to process applications within 15 days for acceptance, with final resolution within three months. Key eligibility conditions include no criminal record and no threat to public order.
According to Minister Elma Saiz, the initiative builds on a citizens’ proposal backed by over 700,000 signatures, seeks to reduce the underground economy, and aims to provide legal certainty and protection against labor exploitation.
The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, said in a statement that the mass regularization initiative is "a measure that has been worked on for a long time, discussed and necessary to respond to a reality that already exists in our streets, in our companies and in our society."
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