The Spanish government on Tuesday unexpectedly issued a decree that gives hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants a path out of legal limbo, putting Spain at odds with many countries around the world that have grown increasingly tough on illegal immigration.

西班牙政府於週二出人意料地頒佈了一項法令，為數十萬無證移民開闢了擺脫法律困境的途徑，這一舉措與全球多國日趨強硬的非法移民管控政策形成鮮明對比。

The measure will allow undocumented people already living in Spain to apply for temporary residency permits. The Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described it as crucial for Spain, where migrant labor plays a key role in agriculture, tourism and more.

該措施允許已在西班牙生活的無證移民申請臨時居留許可。由首相佩德羅·桑切斯領導的工人社會黨政府表示，這一舉措對西班牙至關重要——移民勞動力在該國農業、旅遊業等諸多領域都發揮著核心作用。

Elma Saiz Delgado, Spain’s minister for migration, said at a news conference on Tuesday that the measure would have an impact “on our social cohesion, well-being, and also on the economy.”

西班牙移民大臣埃爾瑪·賽斯·德爾加多週二在新聞發布會上稱，這項措施將對「我們的社會凝聚力、民生福祉，以及經濟發展」產生影響。

Opposition parties immediately criticized the measure, with one far-right party promising to challenge it in court.

反對黨隨即對該措施提出批評，其中一個極右翼政黨揚言將向法院提起訴訟，挑戰政令的合法性。

The measure announced on Tuesday is bucking a trend, as many Western governments, often under pressure from far-right, populist parties, have cracked down on illegal immigration in recent years.

近年來，許多西方國家政府常在極右翼、民粹主義政黨的壓力下對非法移民採取嚴厲打擊措施，西班牙此次公布的政令顯然逆勢而行。

In the United States, the Trump administration is carrying out a sweeping, aggressive campaign to arrest and deport millions of people. Britain has rolled out stricter rules for refugees; Greece now imposes prison terms for migrants who remain in the country after their asylum claims are rejected; and Italy wants to hold asylum seekers in Albania while their cases are being processed, despite stiff legal opposition.

在美國，川普政府正開展大規模的強硬行動，計劃逮捕並驅逐數百萬移民；英國出台了針對難民的更嚴苛新規；希臘如今對庇護申請被拒後仍滯留境內的移民實施監禁；義大利則不顧強烈的法律反對，計劃將尋求庇護者安置在阿爾巴尼亞，直至其申請審核完畢。

Spain, in contrast, has embraced immigrants, especially Latin Americans who speak Spain’s language, share its religion and understand its culture, although activists say that warm welcome has not always extended to many Africans.

與之形成鮮明對比的是，西班牙一直對移民持接納態度，尤其是那些說西班牙語、信奉天主教、理解西班牙文化的拉丁美洲人，不過有活動人士指出，這份熱情並未同等延伸至眾多非洲移民身上。

And the Spanish government has outsourced migration control, providing police equipment, technology and training to countries like Morocco and Mauritania to turn back migrants from Africa.

西班牙政府還將移民管控工作外包，向摩洛哥、毛裡塔尼亞等國提供警用裝備、技術支持和執法培訓，協助這些國家遣返來自非洲的移民。

Still, the decree builds on Spain’s attempts to present itself as a beacon for immigrants.

儘管如此，本次頒佈的政令仍是西班牙進一步塑造自身移民燈塔形象的舉措。

“In the current international context, marked by the rise of anti-migration discourse, Spain’s decision represents a counterweight,” said Cecilia Estrada Villaseñor, a researcher at the Institute for Migration Studies at Pontifical University of Comillas in Madrid.

馬德里科米亞斯宗座大學移民問題研究所研究員塞西莉亞·埃斯特拉達·比亞塞尼奧爾表示：「在當前國際反移民言論甚囂塵上的大背景下，西班牙的這一決定成為一股制衡的力量。」

Spain does not publish official figures on the number of undocumented migrants living in the country, but estimates from institutions like Funcas, an economic think tank, suggest the number could be between half a million and a million. Spain’s total population is almost 50 million.

西班牙並未公布境內無證移民的官方統計數據，但經濟智庫Funcas等機構的估算顯示，這一數字可能在50萬至100萬之間，而西班牙全國總人口約為5000萬。

The legalization measure was in part spurred by domestic politics.

此次合法化舉措一定程度上也源於西班牙國內政治考量。

The Council of Ministers, the executive branch of the government, approved it through a royal decree, after Mr. Sánchez’s government struck a last-minute deal on Monday with a smaller left-wing party, Unidas Podemos, in exchange for its parliamentary support. A similar measure had been stuck in Parliament since April 2024.

桑切斯政府週一與左翼小黨——聯合我們能黨(Unidas Podemos)在最後一刻達成協議，換取後者的議會支持，隨後西班牙政府行政機構大臣會議便以皇家法令的形式批准了這一措施。事實上，一項類似的提案自2024年4月起便在議會陷入擱置。

Under the decree, undocumented migrants will be eligible for temporary residence permits if they can prove that they arrived in Spain before December 2025 and that they have lived in the country for at least five months. People with criminal records will be excluded; applications will be accepted only between April and June. The residency permits, which allow people to work in Spain, will last one year and will be renewable.

根據該政令，無證移民若能證明自己在2025年12月前抵達西班牙，且在該國居住滿至少五個月，即可申請臨時居留許可；有犯罪記錄者將被排除在外，申請窗口僅在4月至6月開放。該居留許可允許持有者在西班牙工作，有效期為一年，且可續簽。

“It brings me closer to my dream, and the dream of many others like me: to live in peace and work with dignity to support our families,” said Sady Traoré, 28, who works in citrus groves in Alzira, in eastern Spain. Mr. Traoré, a musician who said he fled his native Mali after a military coup in 2022, arrived in Spain’s Canary Islands in 2024, but has since been unable to secure an appointment to apply for asylum.

「這讓我離自己的夢想，也離無數和我一樣的人的夢想更近了：和平地生活、有尊嚴地工作、養家糊口，」28歲的薩迪·特拉奧雷說。他目前在西班牙東部阿爾西拉的柑橘園務工，同時也是一名音樂人。特拉奧雷稱，2022年馬利發生軍事政變後，他逃離祖國，2024年抵達西班牙加那利群島，卻始終未能預約到庇護申請。

The push to give undocumented migrants a pathway to residency gained momentum during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many migrants continued to work in precarious conditions during Spain’s lockdowns.

新冠疫情期間，許多移民在西班牙封鎖期間仍在不穩定條件下繼續工作，這使得為無證移民提供居留途徑的呼聲日益高漲。

Foreign workers have eased Spain’s labor shortage and helped boost economic growth, according to a study by economists at the European Central Bank.

歐洲央行經濟學家的一項研究顯示，外籍勞工緩解了西班牙的勞動力短缺問題，也為該國經濟增長提供了助力。

Ismael Gálvez, a professor of economics at the University of the Balearic Islands who has studied the impact of migration on Spain’s economy, said that it was hard to predict how the government’s measure would play out, except that it was not likely to put a lot of pressure on the housing or labor market for native-born Spaniards because it applies only to migrants already living in the country.

巴利阿里群島大學經濟學教授伊斯梅爾·加爾韋斯長期研究移民對西班牙經濟的影響，他表示，目前難以預判政府這項措施的最終影響，但可以確定的是，該措施不會給西班牙本土居民的住房和勞動力市場帶來太大壓力，因為其適用對象僅為已在西班牙定居的移民。

“Migrants mainly compete with workers who are similar to them, that is, other migrants,” Mr. Gálvez said.

「移民的競爭主要集中在同類人群之間，也就是其他移民，」加爾韋斯說。

More than 700,000 Spaniards had signed a legislative initiative that began in 2021 — led by migrant groups, and supported by left-wing associations and the Catholic Church — calling for a parliamentary debate on giving undocumented migrants a pathway to residency.

逾70萬西班牙民眾簽署了2021年啟動的立法倡議，呼籲議會就為無證移民提供居留途徑展開辯論，該倡議由移民團體發起，並獲左翼組織及天主教會支持。

Opposition leaders were quick to criticize the move. Alberto Núñez Feijóo, head of the conservative Popular Party, accused the government of using the measure to distract public attention from a deadly train crash that killed 45 people this month. Vox, a far-right party, said it would challenge the decree before Spain’s Supreme Court, accusing Mr. Sánchez of “accelerating an invasion.”

反對黨領袖迅速對政府此舉提出批評。保守派人民黨領袖阿爾韋托·努涅斯·費霍指責政府借該政令轉移公眾注意力，淡化本月造成45人遇難的致命火車脫軌事故的影響；極右翼政黨聲音黨則表示，將向西班牙最高法院起訴該政令，還指責桑切斯「加速一場入侵」。

Spain has carried out eight large-scale campaigns to legalize undocumented people since the mid-1980s, under both conservative and progressive governments, affecting at least one million migrants.

自上世紀80年代中期以來，無論保守派還是進步派政府執政，西班牙已開展過八次無證移民大規模合法化行動，受惠移民至少達100萬人。