NIJAR, Spain - After seven years living as an undocumented migrant in Spain, doing day jobs and staying in shanty towns, Moroccan Abdelmoujoud Erra hopes a mass amnesty launched by the leftist government may finally turn his fortunes around.

"Without documents you work for five euros ($5.80) an hour. With documents, you work legally, with more money - maybe seven or eight euros an hour," said Erra, 27, in the southern Spanish province of Almería. Undocumented migrants there gather at roundabouts hoping to be hired to pick fruit and vegetables in Europe's largest concentration of greenhouses.

He is among many undocumented migrants applying for the amnesty, which could benefit hundreds of thousands and will run through June.

The policy is a pillar of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's agenda to harness the economic benefits of migration for its ageing population, even as other countries tighten borders.

But it has enraged right-wing opposition parties. The People's Party says it will saturate public services, while Vox has accused the government of seeking to replace Spanish natives.

If he had had legal status, Erra said, he would have been able to pursue his dream of building a professional boxing career and to visit his family in Morocco. "I've lost a lot of time. If only I had had papers earlier", he said.

Last month, a fire tore through the informal settlement where he lived, though his documents for the amnesty were saved because he had stored them at the local Red Cross office.

With more than 30,000 hectares (74,100 acres) of intensive crops under plastic, Almería is the European Union's main winter supplier of vegetables, including tomatoes and cucumbers, exporting produce worth 3 billion euros annually and employing around 80,000 people, according to unions and authorities.

WORKER SHORTAGE

While the ultimate impact on production and labour costs is still unclear, agriculture business groups and unions say they hope it will help address a shortage of workers.

Andrés Góngora, coordinator of farmers' union COAG, acknowledged that the sector employs some migrants in the country illegally and said the amnesty would provide stability. Having a larger workforce might allow for the planting of more labour-intensive crops and foster social cohesion, he added.

Charities have long criticised conditions around Almería, estimating around 10,000 migrants live in substandard housing and that at least 70% of the workforce is undocumented.

Spain's 50 million-strong population has swelled in recent years, fuelled by migration. Roughly 840,000 undocumented migrants are currently in the workforce, think tank Funcas estimates.

Among them is 35-year-old Ghanaian Michael Aymaga, who lives in a migrant settlement outside the town of Nijar, with intermittent power supply and limited water access.

He is overjoyed by the amnesty and says he wants to contribute to his new home. "I would definitely use all my skills and everything I have to help Spain (become) a better Spain," he said.

($1 = 0.8604 euros)

(Reporting by Horaci Garcia and Nacho DoceWriting by Joan Faus, editing by Aislinn Laing, Andrew Cawthorne and Rosalba O'Brien)

Moroccan migrant Abdelmoujoud Erra, 27, queues to buy a bus ticket to Valladolid, to obtain a vulnerability certificate to regularise migration status, in Almeria Spain, April 22, 2026. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Nacho Doce Reuters

Migrants from Morocco arrange watermelons inside of a plastic-covered greenhouse in Almeria province, home to Europe’s largest concentration of agricultural greenhouses, in Nijar, Spain, April 25, 2026. Almeria province has more than 30,000 hectares of intensive crops under plastic, employing around 80,000 people, local people, documented and undocumented migrants, according to unions and authorities. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Nacho Doce Reuters

An undocumented migrant from Morocco uses an electric scooter to transport water on a canister in a shanty town after returning of his work in a plastic-covered greenhouse in Almeria province, home to Europe’s largest concentration of agricultural greenhouses, in Nijar, Spain, April 24, 2026. Undocumented migrants there live without reliable electricity and with limited access to water. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Nacho Doce Reuters

An undocumented migrant from Morocco rests at her bed at her shack in a shanty town after returning from her work inside a plastic-covered greenhouse in Almeria province, home to Europe’s largest concentration of agricultural greenhouses, in Nijar, Spain, May 5, 2026. Undocumented migrants there live without reliable electricity and with limited access to water. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Nacho Doce Reuters

Undocumented migrants from Morocco attend Spanish classes taught by members of the Jesuit Migrant Service in a shanty town after returning of their work inside a plastic-covered greenhouse in Almeria province, home to Europe’s largest concentration of agricultural greenhouses, in Nijar, Spain, May 5, 2026. Undocumented migrants there live without reliable electricity and with limited access to water. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Nacho Doce Reuters

An undocumented migrant from Ghana leaves a friend's shack in a shanty town near plastic-covered greenhouses in Almeria province, home to Europe's largest concentration of agricultural greenhouses, in Nijar, Spain, April 24, 2026. Undocumented migrants there live without reliable electricity and with limited access to water. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Nacho Doce Reuters

Roofs of shanties are weighed down with stones, bicycles and hand carts to keep plastic sheeting from blowing away in the wind at a shanty town where documented and undocumented migrants from Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa live next to plastic-covered greenhouses in Almeria province, home to Europe’s largest concentration of agricultural greenhouses, in Nijar, Spain, April 23, 2026. Charities have long criticised living conditions around the Almería greenhouses, estimating around 10,000 people live in substandard housing, with at least 70% undocumented. REUTERS/Nacho Doce Nacho Doce Reuters

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 1:46 PM.

Get unlimited digital access

#ReadLocal