The Spanish Supreme Court has declined to suspend the country's extraordinary migrant regularisation programme or refer the matter to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In a ruling on July 8, 2026, the court's Third Chamber decided not to submit a preliminary question to the EU's top court at this stage. It also rejected requests to provisionally halt the regularisation process, which was initiated under an April royal decree to grant residency and work permits to undocumented foreigners.
The legal challenges were brought by the regional governments of Aragon and Valencia, which raised concerns that the policy might clash with the European Union's 2024 Migration and Asylum Pact and other EU regulations. While the court initially considered consulting EU jurists on June 30, the state's legal services strongly opposed the move, arguing that the matter falls under national jurisdiction and that a referral would resemble an advisory opinion.
The court ultimately ruled that a European referral was inappropriate now that the suspension has been denied, pointing to a "notorious public interest" in continuing the process. The initiative, which had an application deadline of June 30, has received more than 1.2 million applications—doubling original government expectations—after previously surpassing the one million mark across Spain.