Spain’s leftist government, led by Pedro Sánchez, an anti-American authoritarian increasingly styled by his admirers as the “leader” of Europe, has now approved a decree (the measure could not get through parliament in the normal way) effectively giving amnesty to “500,000” (let’s see; others estimate 750,000) illegal immigrants in the country. To be eligible, applicants must have lived in Spain for five months before January 1, 2026, and have no criminal record.

Spain’s minister for inclusion, social security, and migration is quoted in El País as saying that Spain will remain a “beacon” in the fight against the global wave of anti-immigration politics led, in its reporter’s words by the — wait for it — “far right.” “We will do everything in our power to stop it.”

Initially, those admitted will be given permits to stay and work for one year, and there will be a path to citizenship, and even before that the right to settle elsewhere in the EU.

Meanwhile, Hungary’s Prime Minister-Elect Péter Magyar is insisting that Hungary will stick to its tough line on immigration. That could well cause (more) problems with Brussels after a new EU pact on immigration comes into force in June. This includes a “solidarity mechanism” under which (to oversimplify) all EU countries will have to accept a certain number of asylum-seekers or pay into a general fund. Neither is likely to prove acceptable to Magyar, setting the stage for confrontation even as he looks to persuade Brussels to unfreeze billions of euros in frozen or “pending” EU funding. Sánchez’s move should remind him that the price of surrender could also be very high indeed.

© National Review