Criteria and restrictions to access reception conditions

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Article 30(1) of the Asylum Law provides that if they lack financial means, “applicants for international protection will be provided a shelter and social services in order to ensure the satisfaction of their basic needs in dignified conditions”. The system has an integral character, which assists the applicant / beneficiary from the time of the submission of the application for asylum until the completion of the integration process.

Right to reception in different procedures

Material reception conditions under national legislation on asylum are the same for every asylum seeker, no matter the profile of the applicant nor the type of asylum procedure they are channelled into. According to the reception regulation, the reception system foresees an 18-month period of accommodation, assistance and financial support generally in the same province where the asylum claim was lodged (apart from a few exceptions). This can reach a maximum of 24 months for vulnerable cases following the exceptional authorisation by the competent authority (see Special Reception Needs).

For applicants under an outgoing Dublin procedure, reception conditions are provided until the actual transfer to another Member State. Reception is offered for no longer than one month after the notification of the inadmissibility decision, subject to a possible extension.

Access to reception conditions is conditional to the applicant’s inclusion within official asylum reception places, which give access to all other services provided. This means that applicants who can afford or decide to provide themselves with independent accommodation are in practice cut off the system, and have no guaranteed access to financial support and assistance foreseen in reception centres.

According to the 2022 Regulation, people who arrive in Spain from the Moroccan border and have to be initially hosted within the Ceuta and Melilla’s Migrant Temporary Stay Centres (CETI) to be later transferred to the Spanish peninsula. This provision represents a change of the previous situation as in practice persons applying for asylum in Ceuta and Melilla started benefitting the full services provided within the reception system only when transferred to mainland, but not during their stay in the CETI.

Shortcomings and delays regarding access to the reception system have been reported during 2024.

In its 2023 Annual Report, the Spanish Ombudsperson continued to highlight the challenges asylum seekers face in accessing reception, due to the barriers in accessing the asylum procedure.^[1]

Cases of asylum seekers living on the streets because of the saturation of the reception system and the delays in the formalisation of the asylum applications continued to be reported in 2024.^[2] In January 2023, the EU Commission started an infringement procedure against Spain for not having transposed completely and correctly the EU norms on reception conditions, giving to Spain a 2 months deadline to address the deficiencies of its system.^[3] No further developments on the case were registered at the time of writing of this report, as the case remains pending.[4] In December 2024, the Network of Organisations for the Assistance to Homeless Persons in Alicante (Red de Entidades para la Atención a Personas Sin Hogar de Alicante – Reapsha) denounced that 240 persons lived on the streets in Alicante, which represents an increase compared to the previous year. The network reported that, among them, there are also asylum applicants and UAMs aged out.[5]

Asylum seekers returned to Spain under the Dublin Regulation continue to face difficulties in accessing reception since 2018. Following judgments of the TSJ of Madrid,^[6] the DGIAH issued instructions in January 2019 to ensure that asylum seekers returned under the Dublin Regulation are guaranteed access to reception (see Dublin: Situation of Dublin Returnees).^[7] The Reception Handbook was amended accordingly.

In January 2023, the Government announced the construction of a reception centre for asylum seekers in Vitoria (País Vasco), with a budget of EUR 14.1 million and a capacity of 350 places.^[8] The plan has encountered the opposition of the city major, as the decision appears to have been taken unilaterally by the central Government. By February 2023, however, an agreement was found.^[9]

The assessment of resources

The latest publicly available Reception Handbook from 2021 and the Reception Regulation specifies that the lack of sufficient resources is one of the requirements for receiving reception conditions.^[10] At any stage of the reception phase, asylum seekers have the obligation to declare the incomes they receive. Only actual incomes are verified, while savings are not, because it is expected that asylum seekers applying for reception conditions do not have sufficient economic resources to provide to their subsistence.

Three-phase approach to reception

The reception system is divided into three main phases, which the asylum seeker follows even if they obtain international protection in the meantime. The three phases are as follows:^[11]

1. “Initial assessment and referral phase” (Fase de valoración inicial y derivación): the aim of this phase is to assess the person’s profile and their needs, at to refer them to a suitable facility in the minimum time possible. The stay in such facilities should last the time necessary for carrying out the needs’ assessment and the referral to another facility, and should not exceed 1 month. This phase does not count for the calculation of the duration of reception conditions;
2. “Reception phase” (Fase de acogida): applicants are provided with accommodation within: (a) a Refugee Reception Centre (Centro de Acogida a Refugiados, CAR); (b) or NGO-run reception facilities located all over the Spanish territory; or (c) reception facilities under the humanitarian assistance system (acogida para la Atención Humanitaria de personas inmigrantes). More details are provided in Types of Accommodation. During these months of temporary reception, applicants receive basic cultural orientation, language and job training which aim to facilitate their integration within the Spanish society. The stay in such facilities should last until the end of the international protection’s or statelessness’ procedure (that according to the Asylum Law is 6 months). For vulnerable asylum seekers, such timeframe can be extended for another 6 months;
3. “Autonomy phase” (Fase de autonomía): applicants move out of reception centres and receive financial support and coverage of basic expenses to start their autonomous life. Intensive language courses and access to employability programmes are offered at this stage. It is also possible to offer the person financial support for certain expenses (ayudas puntuales) such as health, education, training, birth. The duration of this phase is 6 months, that can be extended for another 6 in case of vulnerable applicants.

The total duration of reception phases cannot exceed 18 months, subject to a prolongation to 24 months for vulnerable persons.^[12]

In December 2022 the SEM issued new instructions^[13] regarding the access to and stay in the asylum reception system establishing, for example, applicants whose asylum claim has been denied can access the reception system if they have lodged a second asylum application or have challenged the denial with an administrative appeal.

Since the 2015 increase of available places for refugees’ reception, the Spanish government has reformed the system regarding financing for NGOs service providers for asylum seekers and refugees. In 2023, the asylum reception system counted 24 organisations, which were granted direct funding for the reception of asylum seekers:^[14]

The list undergoes frequent changes, as NGOs can enter or exit from the asylum reception system based on available funding, decisions taken by the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, individual decisions to be part of the system, etc. According to available data, the Spanish reception system counts a total of 45,185 reception places, with 29,211 those for the reception of asylum seekers and 15,974 within the humanitarian assistance program.[15] According to the planning of the DGAHSAPI, in 2026 the system will count with 23,695 places for the reception of asylum seekers (i.e. the ‘reception phase’).[16]

The new Reception Regulation has introduced a new mechanism for funding NGOs’ reception facilities, by establishing a concerted action between the SEM and NGOs for the duration of 4 years, both for the asylum reception system and humanitarian assistance.^[17] Positive aspects of this new form of funding have been highlighted, especially in terms of the stability of the system in front of the increase in arrivals, its transparency, as well as its ability to adapt to the needs of asylum seekers and migrants.[18]

In June 2023, a new operational plan for 2023-2026 was agreed between Spain and the EUAA, which foresees a set of measures aiming at supporting and reinforcing the national reception authorities in the context of the international protection, temporary protection and the humanitarian assistance systems. In addition, compared to the previous operational plan, the new one foresees support to national authorities to foster common action in reception of unaccompanied migrant children in the Spanish territory, and to enhance the capacity of authorities and practitioners through training and professional development.[19]

In October 2024, the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration announced the increase up to €7 million of the budget foreseen for the ‘autonomy phase’, with the aim of reinforcing the support to asylum seekers, refugees and beneficiaries of temporary protection for the last quarter of 2024.[20]

^{[1] Defensor del Pueblo, ‘Informe anual 2023 – Volumen I’, March 2024, available here.}

^{[2] El País, ‘Hacerse el enfermo para dormir en un hospital: la odisea de una familia venezolana en busca de asilo y techo’, 11 March 2024, available here; Diaro del Alto Aragón, ‘Desesperación de una pareja que dejó Venezuela por persecución política y está en la calle’, 5 March 2024, available here; Diario Crítico, ‘Polémica en un pueblo de Girona por la acogida de 200 inmigrantes solicitantes de asilo en un hotel’, 3 September 2024, available here.}

^{[3] El Periódico, ‘Bruselas expedienta a España por no aplicar reglas de la UE sobre condiciones de acogida de demandantes de asilo’, 27 January 2023, available here.}

^{[4] European Commission, ‘European Commission at work’, available here.}

^{[5] Todo Alicante, ‘Un informe sitúa en más de 240 las personas que duermen en la calle en la ciudad de Alicante’, 27 December 2024, available here.}

^{[6] TSJ Madrid, Decision 966/2018, 7 December 2018, EDAL, available here: ; Decision 913/2018, 22 November 2018, available here.}

^{[7] DGIAH, ‘Instrucción DGIAH 2018/12/19 por la que se modifica el manual de gestión del sistema de acogida para solicitantes y beneficiarios de protección internacional en lo relativo al reingreso en el sistema de acogida de personas devueltas a España en aplicacion del Reglamento Dublín’, 20 December 2018, available here.}

^{[8] El Diario, ‘El Gobierno central construirá un centro de acogida internacional de refugiados en Vitoria que Urtaran dice que no se necesita’, 16 January 2023, available here.} 

^{[9] La Vanguardia, ‘PNV y PSE pactan una enmienda sobre acogida de refugiados con la que confían en superar sus “diferencias y polémicas”, 16.2.23, available here.}

^{[10] DGPPIAH, Reception Handbook, June 2021, Boletín Oficial del Estado, ‘Real Decreto 220/2022, de 29 de marzo, por el que se aprueba el Reglamento por el que se regula el sistema de acogida en materia de protección internacional’, available here.}

^{[11] Ibidem}

^{[12] Article 11.7 of the Reception Regulation.}

^{[13] Migrar con Derechos, ‘Instrucción SEM de 15 de diciembre de 2022. Acceso y permanencia sistema acogida protección internacional’, 15 December 2022, available here.}

^{[14] Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguiridad Social y Migraciones, ‘Sistema de Acogida de Protección Internacional y Temporal. Entidades Colaboradoras’, available here.}

^{[15] Europa Press, ‘45.000 plazas para migrantes entre el sistema de acogida y el programa de atención humanitaria’, 14 December 2024, available here.}

^{[16] Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones, ‘Resolución de 19 de agosto de 2024, de la Dirección General de Atención Humanitaria y del Sistema de Acogida de Protección Internacional, por la que se modifica la de 8 de noviembre de 2022, por la que se establece la planificación de prestaciones, actuaciones o servicios estructurales del sistema de acogida en materia de protección internacional para su gestión mediante acción concertada’, 22 August 2024, available here.}

^{[17] Europa Press, ‘El Gobierno autoriza a CEAR, ACCEM y ACOGE, entre otras, a gestionar plazas de acogida a migrantes los próximos 4 años’, 31 October 2022, available here; Derecho.com, ‘Resolución de 8 de febrero de 2023, de la Dirección General de Atención Humanitaria e Inclusión Social de la Inmigración, por la que se modifica la de 14 de noviembre de 2022, por la que se establece la planificación de prestaciones, actuaciones y servicios que deben atenderse dentro del programa de atención humanitaria mediante acción concertada para los ejercicios 2023-2026’, 8 February 2023, available here.}

^{[18] CEAR, ‘INFORME 2024. Las personas refugiadas en España y Europa’, June 2024, available here.}

^{[19] EUAA, ‘Operational Plan 2023-2026 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Spain’, 12 June 2023, available here.}

^{[20] Europa Press, ‘El Gobierno amplia en casi siete millones de euros la partida dedicada a la fase de autonomía de personas refugiadas’, 2 October 2024, available here.}