Migrants have overwhelmed public offices throughout Spain following the official start of the socialist government’s mass amnesty for illegals.
Local media reports that as many as 5,000 illegals are applying for so-called ‘regularisation’ under the scheme each day, with post offices, social security branches and migration offices facing long lines throughout the country.
IT systems are also under pressure, with digital applications in the region of Galacia failing to process due to a combination of high demand and software issues.
The issues are sparking anger from local civil servants, with a senior official in Madrid, José Fernández, blaming Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s administration for failing to coordinate the logistics of the plan with people on the ground.
“[The] hasty regularisation was carried out without consulting the other public administrations involved,” he said, his region alone facing over 5,000 migrant regularisation appointments a week as of April 20.
Opposition politicians have also lashed out at the socialists as images of migrants lining up outside administrative offices circulate on Spanish social media.
“They’re collapsing Spain right before our very eyes,” one local branch of the right-wing VOX party wrote online.
According to the socialists, 500,000 illegal migrants are expected to have their status regularised under the proposed scheme.
Others have warned that this estimate is too conservative, with the Spanish National Police’s Centre for Immigration and Borders warning the figure could be as high as one million.
EU officials are reportedly nervous about the stunt, with one anonymous official telling Euronews that the move is “not in line with the European Union’s spirit on migration”.
Once regularised, migrants availing of the amnesty will be allowed to travel anywhere within the Schengen area so long as their trip lasts 90 days or less.