The new extraordinary administrative regularization process has started with institutional delays and an information vacuum that is already causing confusion among potential beneficiaries in Catalonia. In this context, unaccredited individuals have appeared charging high amounts for services that should be free, while a large part of the guidance falls on social entities.
The paradox is that the measure opens one of the few broad regularization avenues in recent years, but it arrives without a clear activation of public services to support it. This mismatch between the scope of the process and the available resources is causing bottlenecks in basic procedures and increases the risk that people who do meet the requirements will be left out.
The lack of public campaigns has shifted the burden to the third sector
For months, the lack of coordination between administrations and the absence of clear public campaigns left the process without recognizable institutional guidance. This vacuum has displaced tasks that belong to the administration to the third sector, which is assuming guidance, support, and doubt resolution without sufficient resources.
Laia Costa, a jurist at SOMS Garrotxa, points to this as one of the keys to the current moment.
"We are facing a historic opportunity because it is one of the few broad regularization processes in many years, and furthermore, it does not necessarily depend on an employment contract as on other occasions." - Laia Costa, jurist, SOMS Garrotxa
The scope of the measure affects people who already reside and work in areas such as care, hospitality, the meat industry, or agriculture. Despite this, there is no clear institutional support strategy or sufficient activation of social services to accompany a procedure that requires gathering documentation and obtaining administrative appointments.
In parallel, bottlenecks are already concentrating on specific procedures. Obtaining criminal records, vulnerability reports, and requesting appointments are among the points where the mismatch between the magnitude of the process and the available means is most noticeable.
The census weighs in practice even if it is not a formal requirement
One of the most repeated problems appears in the census registration. Although it is not a formal requirement of the process, it effectively serves as proof of residence, so any obstacle in this registration reduces the options for proving administrative ties.
In several municipalities, the political management of the registry has caused people to be removed and has reduced the possibility of registering without a fixed address. This difficulty pushes many affected individuals to change municipalities or to maintain registrations that do not match their real residence.
Laia Costa describes this effect on the daily lives of applicants.
"We see a lot of forced mobility, with people registered in one place but living in another due to a lack of alternatives." - Laia Costa, jurist, SOMS Garrotxa
This mobility ends up generating irregularities derived from a system that does not facilitate normalized access to basic rights. It also complicates the preparation of the file at a time when the process should be reducing barriers and not adding new documentary difficulties.
The jurist from SOMS Garrotxa warns that, without real institutional reinforcement, denials and administrative blockages may occur for people who meet the requirements. Her warning is supported by the burden already borne by social entities, which are covering functions for which they were not endowed and which cannot replace the administration.