The Socialist government in
Immigrants must provide proof of their registration with a local council from before
Difficult situations
But many of the immigrants facing the most difficult situations, such as those from
Spanish authorities on Saturday picked up 227 people off the
Thousands attempt the perilous voyage to
Foreign workers
About 2.6 million foreigners live in
According to a government study, of the 17.24 million jobs in
Under the measures announced last August, the socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also intends to promote legal immigration by delivering three-month visas, designed to give immigrants time to find work in
Residents of those countries which feed most of the illegal migration towards
The programme of normalisation will be dealt with by 52 immigration offices whose staff of 1639 employees will be increased by 130%.
Neglect
The Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR) has criticised the government scheme as neglecting those immigrants who have trouble getting hold of the necessary documents or who simply do not have a passport.
Thousands of immigrants have been lining up outside consular offices since the start of the year, some of them queuing round the clock, to obtain the necessary papers to enroll for the scheme.
CEAR said the government only wanted to grant legal status to "people capable of working who can pay for social security, they aren't regularising children, the elderly and people without work".
The conservative main opposition Popular Party has said the legalisation programme would result in "all the illegal immigrants in
Tougher immigration
Unskilled foreigners will find it harder to migrate to
On the eve of a much-trailed announcement of the new, tougher immigration and asylum proposals, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told BBC radio that what Britain needs is "a set of rules that allow people to come in when the country needs, but have strict controls that actually work".
"Whether we should cut the number or increase it (the annual net inflow of people into
Five-year plan
The government has drawn up the five-year blueprint just three months before an expected general election in which immigration will be a major theme.
In addition, the new proposals will call for identity cards for everybody who migrates to
Clarke's announcement follows recent tough proposals by the main opposition Conservative Party to put an absolute cap on immigration numbers, and to limit asylum seekers by withdrawing from the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees.
PHOTO CAPTION
Spanish Civil Guards lead would-be immigrants to be processed after being intercepted off the coast of