Bulgarian and Romanian laborers will be free to take up jobs in Spain starting January 1,2009, the Spanish agency Europa Press reported as cited by the BTA.
The Spanish cabinet decided not to extend the restrictions on migrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania after the expiration of the first two-year transit period after the two countries joined the EU on January 1, 2007.
Spain's Minister of Labor and Immigration Celestino Corbacho is quoted as saying that there was no point in such restrictions any more.
The Spanish government has noted the high economic growth in Bulgaria and Romania, and its analyses show that the flow of migrant workers might soon turn in the other direction - Bulgarian and Romanian laborers might leave Spain for their home countries.
The authorities in Madrid are also hopeful that the recent campaigns by the Romanian and Bulgarian governments to attract back their immigrants would turn out to be successful.