The National Police has issued an internal alert reminding officers of the criteria for action after detecting a 60% increase in reports of alleged passport loss by foreign nationals seeking to benefit from the extraordinary regularisation of migrants. It has recommended that officials in the offices that carry out these procedures proceed with a ‘full identification’ of the complainant, including a check of their administrative situation in Spain.
In the official letter dated 10 February, published by El Español and accessed by Europa Press, the General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders of the National Police warns that ‘this type of report has increased by approximately 60%’. It specifies that the nationalities ‘with the highest incidence’ are, in this order: Pakistani, with an increase of 866.67%; Algerian, with 356.25%; Moroccan, with an increase of 114%; and Colombian, with 39%. The document does not detail the absolute figures, only the percentage increase.
The police point out that this increase in reports has been detected by comparing the figures between 15 January and 6 February 2026 with those for 2025, coinciding with the government’s announcement—following the agreement with Podemos—to regularise the situation of at least half a million foreigners who can prove a minimum of five months’ residence before 31 December 2025 and have no criminal record.
“Following the publication on 22 January of the news about a new process for regularising immigrants who were in our country in an irregular situation on 31 December 2025, there has been a significant increase in reports to the ODAC (Complaints and Citizen Service Offices) of lost or stolen documentation (mainly passports) by completely undocumented foreign nationals,” said the National Police.
The document is an official letter entitled ‘dissemination of alert and basic criteria for police action, related to the increase in reports of loss/misplacement or theft of documentation by undocumented foreign nationals’. Several National Police unions reacted to the announcement of the regularisation of migrants by expressing their disagreement with what they see as a measure driven by ‘political calculation’, as they claimed it will be carried out ‘without reinforcement and putting security at risk’.
The trade unions warned of the ‘pull factor’ and that it could lead to ‘lost passport fraud’, as well as providing a ‘lifeline for mafias involved in human trafficking and smuggling’. The information available to the General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders suggests that, in the context of a possible extraordinary regularisation process, the practice of claiming a lost passport could be used ‘to find a way to prove presence in Spanish territory during the period covered by the extraordinary regularisation process’.
The police add that the actions of some police officers, who have carried out full identification of foreigners in these circumstances, have made it possible to verify that in many cases there were ‘criminal and/or police records in Spain and/or other countries’. Falsifications have also been detected through the use of ‘identities other than the one reported’, as well as ‘administrative decisions on immigration matters that are still in force’.
For this reason, the General Commissariat for Immigration and Borders has recommended that when an undocumented foreign national appears at an ODAC office or police station to report the loss or theft of their passport or identity card, ‘they should be fully identified and their administrative situation in Spain should be checked’, all without prejudice to receiving the appropriate report.
On 27 January, the Council of Ministers authorised the urgent processing of a royal decree to carry out an extraordinary regularisation process for foreign nationals already in Spain. The aim, according to the government, is to offer this group the opportunity ‘to live with equal rights’, as well as to respond to ‘a reality that exists on our streets and has an impact on coexistence, well-being and the economy’.
The process is aimed at foreign nationals who have been in Spain for at least five months before 31 December 2025. Applicants for international protection who have submitted their application before that same date will also be eligible for regularisation. Another essential requirement is to have no criminal record.