Some 360,000 of the over 900,000 people who applied by mid-June have already been granted provisional work and residence permits, according to officials.
Sánchez has defended the measure as recognition for those who already contribute to Spain’s economy, but the legalization scheme has been challenged by the center-right People’s Party and far-right Vox group. Last month, the country’s Supreme Court rejected a request to provisionally suspend the decree.
The mass legalization puts Madrid at odds with the migration policy currently favored in Brussels.
Earlier this month, the EU finalized a sweeping overhaul of its migration system, paving the way for faster returns, stricter border procedures and so-called return hubs outside the bloc for rejected asylum seekers. Several EU governments have already called for the centers to be set up quickly, with countries including Denmark, Austria, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands leading the push.
In a letter to the permanent representatives of the bloc’s member countries, earlier this month, the Spanish government expressed its opposition to the new policies, citing “the serious legal, foreign relations and operational doubts raised by the return centers, and the lack of proportionality of certain measures.” The country instead called for the EU to adopt migration rules that are grounded in a “full respect for international and European Union law.”