Spain will legalize about 300,000 illegal immigrants a year over the next three years as it seeks to boost its workforce amid an aging population, Migration Minister Elma Saiz told reporters on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Spain, led by a left-wing minority coalition government, has primarily favored migrants even as other European countries such as Italy and Germany seek to tighten border controls.

“Spain has to choose between being an open and prosperous country or a closed and poor one, and we have chosen the former,” Saiz said, adding that the country needs between 250,000 and 300,000 foreign taxpayer workers a year to support its state.

The reform will simplify the legal and administrative procedures for obtaining work and residence permits, allowing migrants to register either as self-employed or as employees, as well as providing them with additional guarantees of labor rights.