On X this week, Elon Musk reposted a claim that Sánchez was using the move to conduct “electoral engineering” adding: “Wow.” Sánchez reposted the SpaceX tycoon’s comment with a reply of his own: “Mars can wait. Humanity can’t.” Amid the squabbling and point-scoring, some of those who have spent years campaigning for regularisation have called for reflection about what the decree means and why it is needed. Catholic groups, including the migration department of the Spanish conference of bishops, see the measure as “an act of social justice and recognition of so many migrants who, through their work, have long contributed to the development of our country, even at the cost of keeping them in an irregular situation”.