SPAIN is to end a humanitarian visa programme that has brought in nearly 250,000 Venezuelans fleeing Nicolas Maduro’s regime in under ten years.
The fast-track lane for Venezuelans is set to be scrapped in June this year – meaning migrants from the South American nation will now have to go through the same strict process as everyone else.
Authorities said the scheme had clogged up Spain’s asylum system, with between 40,000 and 50,000 applications flooding in every year since it was introduced in 2018.
Under the rules, Venezuelans were handed a renewable one-year permit to live and work in Spain – a foothold that often paved the way to long-term residency or even citizenship.
That put them in a league of their own, while other asylum seekers faced tougher checks and far longer waits to stay.
At its peak, Venezuelans made up more than 90% of all humanitarian residence permits.
In 2018, before the programme was launched, just over 255,000 Venezuelan-born residents lived in Spain.
Today, that figure has exploded to nearly 700,000 – with more than 250,000 already holding Spanish passports and over 35,000 granted citizenship in 2024 alone.
The decision to scrap the scheme, announced on Wednesday, came just a day after Spain handed citizenship to Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.
Lopez was granted nationality in recognition of his ‘political importance, his defence of democratic values, and his long-running humanitarian and political fight against the Maduro regime,’ according to a statement by the Spanish government.
The crackdown also comes as Venezuela itself is rocked by dramatic upheaval.
Maduro was ousted in January after a shock US military raid in Caracas, where American forces swooped in, seized the longtime strongman and flew him to the United States to face trial.
The lightning operation – involving airstrikes and special forces – was over in a matter of hours and brought his rule to an abrupt end.
Since then, power has fallen to his former deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, who is now leading the country through a fragile transition while trying to rebuild ties with Washington.
The decision to end the humanitarian visa scheme also followed criticism by the European Commission about Spain’s plan to grant legal status to about 500,000 irregular migrants.
Announced by the Spanish government in late January, the move aims to take in people who entered the country illegally before the end of last year.
But the decision has raised eyebrows in Brussels, with one official saying it was ‘not in line with the European Union’s spirit on migration.’
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