A Socialist lawmaker from Pedro Sánchez’s governing party has urged supporters to physically confront Spaniards who criticize the government’s mass regularization of illegal immigrants, telling them to hit opponents when they complain about the highly controversial measure.
Juanjo Marcano DaSilva, a Socialist (PSOE) member of the Madrid regional assembly, made the remarks while defending the Sánchez government’s migration policy, which has opened the door for hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants to obtain legal status in Spain.
Spain’s Socialist-led government finalized the measure in April, allowing undocumented migrants who arrived before Dec. 31, 2025, and can prove at least five months of residence, as well as a clean criminal record, to apply for temporary legal status and work permits. The government estimates around 500,000 people could qualify, although experts have suggested the figure could be considerably higher, possibly up to 1.6 million people. The measure was pushed through by decree, bypassing a normal parliamentary vote.
In the remarks, Marcano DaSilva mocked those who argue that the program is a mass amnesty and said they deserved to be “denied” or shut down.
“When they come with the nonsense that this is massive, please deny them, because it is what they deserve,” he said, according to a recording made during an internal meeting held in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, published by Frontera.
He then claimed some critics were speaking out of ignorance, while others were acting in bad faith.
“There are people among them, many do it out of ignorance, but others do it with bad intentions,” he said.
DaSilva can then be heard saying that when a “fascist” argues the policy is massive, supporters should “pick up something big and hit him in the face.”
He then repeated the call to use a book against opponents, saying: “So, take a bigger book and give the fascist another slap in the face.”
“Make it even bigger when they come with the nonsense that migrants are criminals,” he added.
Spain’s General Commissariat last month suggested the real figure of regularizations could be up to 1.6 million potential applicants.
These figures come against the backdrop of a sharp rise in illegal immigration. According to estimates cited from the Funcas think tank, the number of undocumented migrants in Spain has surged from around 107,000 in 2017 to nearly 840,000 in 2025 — an increase of almost 685 percent. Funcas also estimates that illegal migrants now account for 17.2 percent of the non-EU foreign population.
Santiago Abascal, leader of Vox, said, “The Spanish people have not given permission for this. If the illegals ‘already form part of our daily life,’ it is only because you and the [center-right] PP have let them in against our laws and against our interests.”
Earlier this month, Vox announced it would appeal the passing of the royal decree to the Supreme Court, and effectively ask for an injunction on its implementation while the judicial review is being conducted.
