Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Recognition and respect Spain’s socialist-led coalition government has announced a plan to legalize the status of undocumented migrants, a measure expected to benefit at least half a million people. In an article shared by Contributing Editor Peter Yeung, the BBC reports that Spain has been outperforming the other main E.U. economies in recent years, recording expected growth of close to three percent in 2025 and seeing unemployment drop below 10 percent for the first time since 2008. Commenting on the latest regularization announcement, Elma Saiz, Spain’s minister of inclusion, social security and migration, said: “We are reinforcing a migratory model based on human rights, integration, co-existence and which is compatible with economic growth and social cohesion.” Peter says: Undocumented migrant workers make huge contributions to economies around the world and Spain has decided to recognize this.   Subterranean schooling After more than three years of full-scale war, much of life in Kharkiv — a northeastern Ukrainian city just 40 kilometers from the Russian border — has moved underground to provide safety from airstrikes, including hotels, cafés and cultural spaces. It therefore makes sense, reports Rubryka in an article shared by Contributing Editor Geetanjali Krishna, that schools would follow. It all began with temporary schools located in the metro system, the success of which led to the opening of Ukraine’s first purpose-built underground school in April 2024. By June 2025, there were four underground schools operating in Kharkiv, in addition to lessons taking place in reinforced radiation shelters, resulting in thousands of Kharkiv students learning face-to-face last school year. Geetanjali says: I liked this story about Kharkiv’s underground schools, which offer a way for children to safely study offline during war. These schools have now become blueprints for more underground schools in Ukraine, a neat solution to providing quality education even during wartime. What else we’re reading  Would You Pay One Percent More for Wildlife? — shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from High Country News  A Secret Panel to Question Climate Science Was Unlawful, Judge Rules — shared by Executive Editor Will Doig from The New York Times (subscription required)  Three Years In, America’s First New Black-Led Bank in 20 Years Is Picking Up Steam — shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from Next City ‘We’re Not Going Anywhere’: How Unionization ‘Whirlwind’ Set Stage for Historic Starbucks Strike — shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from The Guardian In other news… “It’s the community that makes the people,” says Steve Roberts, who recently opened a warming shelter in Lincoln County, West Virginia to support his neighbors through freezing temperatures. In this YouTube video, Roberts explains more about why he created the support facility and, in addition to immediate support, the joy it also brings — “lot of love, lot of smiles, lot of hugs, just a lot of love.” The post What We’re Reading: The Country Legalizing Half a Million Undocumented Migrants appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.