Update, 8 July 2026: Spain's Supreme Court decided not to refer, at this procedural stage, the preliminary question to the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), and refused to suspend Royal Decree 316/2026 on regularisation, which remains in force. Details in the card on the 8 July decision. Below is the original card on the earlier step.
In short: the Fifth Section of the Third Chamber of Spain's Supreme Court has given the parties in two legal challenges against Royal Decree 316/2026 (foreigner regularisation) a joint, non-extendable 5-day deadline to state whether the Court should refer a preliminary question to the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), before ruling on requested interim measures. This is an intermediate procedural step: the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the merits.
The two challenges were filed by the Comunidad Autónoma de Valencia and Aragón, one each, questioning aspects of Royal Decree 316/2026, of 14 April, which amended Royal Decree 1155/2024 and opened two extraordinary regularisation routes with an application deadline of 30 June 2026 (see full card: rd-316-2026-reforma-reglamento-extranjeria).
What does this mean in practice, today? Nothing changes yet. The Royal Decree remains in force; it has not been suspended or annulled. A possible referral to the CJEU can take months (sometimes over a year) to be resolved, and only then — if the CJEU or the Supreme Court itself finds some aspect contrary to EU law — could the rule be affected. Meanwhile, applications already filed under RD 316/2026 continue their ordinary processing.
If you already work in Spain after the regularisation, the 2026 Renta, with your income for that year, is filed in 2027: what to check, in tax return after regularisation in Spain.
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.