Author
While the increase in arrivals of asylum seekers throughout 2018 and 2019 has exacerbated difficulties in accessing reception, the actual conditions in reception facilities have not deteriorated since reception capacity was increased. The problem asylum seekers face on some occasions is the long waiting time before they can be placed in accommodation facilities.
Conditions in CAR and NGO accommodation
The majority of available places for asylum seekers in Spain are in reception centres, during the first phase of reception, which lasts for a maximum of 6 months. As stressed, during the second phase they are placed in private housing, as the final aim is their autonomy within the Spanish society.
In general, there have not been reports of bad conditions of reception. In fact, there are no registered protests or strikes by applicants. Unless they are placed in private housing, asylum seekers are not able to cook by themselves during the first phase of reception, as meals are managed by the authority in charge of the centre.
Hosted applicants have access to several types of activities, which may vary from trainings or leisure programmes. In general, particular conditions or facilities within the reception centre depend on the authority managing the reception places. As the majority of centres are managed by specialised NGOs, generally the staff that works with asylum seekers during their reception is trained and specialised.
The accommodation of every asylum seeker is decided on case by case basis, in order to prevent tensions or conflicts (such as nationality or religious based potential situations), vulnerability or violence. Single women for example are usually placed in female-only apartments, while the same happens for single men. In this context, the unity of families is also respected, as family members are placed together.
The usual length of stay for asylum seekers inside the reception facilities is the maximum stay admitted, which is 18 months, extendable to 24 months for vulnerable persons. This is due to the fact that the system is divided into 3 main phases that gradually prepare the person to live autonomously in the host society.
Conditions in CETI
Overcrowding in the CETI in Ceuta and Melilla is a serious issue that has persisted in recent years, resulting in poor or substandard reception conditions for asylum seekers and migrants.
The two CETI are reception facilities that receive the most criticism from organisations and institutions that monitor migrants’ and refugees’ rights, starting from 2016.[1] Accommodation standards were described as inadequate and concerns were expressed regarding the exposure of women and children to violence and exploitation due to the continuous overcrowding have been highlighted.[2] In light of this, the Council of Europe Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees expressed the necessity for the Spanish authorities to “ensure that CETIs in Ceuta and Melilla have the same standards in terms of living conditions, education, health care, language and training courses which asylum-seekers are entitled to and receive in mainland Spain”.[3] In 2020, IOM and UNHCR asked the Spanish authorities for an urgent coordinated response to the reception conditions at the CETI of Melilla, that they qualified as “alarming”. Both organisations recommend to adopt a rapid assessment procedure and adequate measures which would facilitate the transfer of asylum seekers to the mainland, voluntary return, family reunification etc.[4] The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights also urged the Spanish authorities to find alternatives to accommodation for migrants and asylum seekers living in substandard conditions in Melilla.[5] In its World Report 2021, Human Rights Watch expresses the same concerns on overcrowding at the CETI in Melilla and at a temporary shelter set up in a local bullring.[6]
The continuous problems of overcrowding especially at the CETI of Melilla worsened in 2020 following the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite the transfers of vulnerable persons to mainland being carried out, following – among others – the Ombudsperson’s recommendations, the situation was far from being resolved.
At the beginning of July 2021, the number of residents at the CETI of Melilla was 877 (mostly from Tunisia and Egypt). For the first time since 2017, it did not surpass the threshold of 1,000 hosts,[7] but still surpasses the actual capacity of the facility. Since 2022, the facilities registered very low numbers of residents, it seems it is due to the increase of transfers of asylum applicants to mainland following the decision of the High Court in 2020 (See Freedom of movement).[8] During 2023, the CETI in Ceuta accommodated a total of 1,093 migrants during all the year, which represents the lowest number since 2010.[9]
It can be noted that, on top of overcrowding, CETIs do not provide satisfactory conditions for family units and overall for families with minors. As a result, families are separated and children stay with only one of their parents. In both centres, the shortage of interpreters and psychologists has also been criticised.[10]
Conditions in other reception facilities
Living conditions on the Canary Islands[11]
In the last years, many challenges in providing adequate reception conditions to migrants and asylum seekers continued to be reported in particular on the Canary Islands. This is due to the significant increase of arrivals as described in Arrivals by sea, but also because of the overall lack of reception facilities and the deficient humanitarian assistance system on the Canary Islands. Thus, already in 2020, different temporary reception options have been adopted on an ad hoc basis, such as encampments, hotels,[12] using parts of the CIE as reception facility,[13] or using buildings belonging to the Ministries of Defence and Home Affairs for the purpose COVID-19 quarantine.[14]
The encampment at the dock of Arguineguín (Gran Canaria), created impromptu in August 2020 to address the increase of arrivals and to provide temporary reception to 400 persons, ended up hosting up to 2,600 persons. The deplorable living conditions were also denounced, with migrants sleeping on blankets in the open, without the possibility of changing clothes and with no access to showers – in some cases, persons could not access showers for more than 20 days.[15]
After the calls for its closure by different human rights organisations and institutions, the Arguineguín encampment was finally dismantled at the end of November 2020 and newcomers were brought to a new encampment, located at a military site in Barranco Seco (Gran Canaria).[16] In January 2022, the Provincial Court of Las Palmas ruled on the case lodged against the inhumane treatment of migrants at the Arguineguín camp. Despite acknowledging the terrible conditions of the encampment, the judge considers that the situation was not caused by a voluntary action of the authorities to violate migrants’ rights.[17] The NGO CEAR condemned the decision, in arguing that human rights violations should always be recognised as such.[18]
Already in 2020, many stakeholders, such as the Spanish Ombudsperson or the NGO CEAR, repeatedly called upon the authorities to transfer migrants and asylum seekers from the Canary Islands to appropriate reception facilities on the mainland.[19] The deterrence policy followed by the Government on the Canary Islands was similar to the one applied for several years in Ceuta and Melilla, whereby only a minority of transfers were carried out to mainland.[20] Contrarily to this longstanding policy, in the last year transfer to mainland have increased consistently.[21]
In his 2022 Annual Report, the Ombudsperson warned about the deficiencies of some reception facilities for women with children arriving by boat to the Canary Islands, which resulted in the lack of identification of their needs, as well as of cases of international protection, trafficking, rapes, FGM, etc.[22]
In mid-January 2021, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration announced the opening of a new reception facility at the former military regiment Canarias 50, with a reception capacity of 442 places. This is the second facility that is foreseen by the Government’s Canarias Plan, which aims to create a total of 7,000 reception places.[23] Doctors of the World warned that the new facilities that the Government plans to build on the Canary Islands are likely to replicate the situation of the Arguineguín dock.[24]
Since the end of 2020, different NGOs started to open reception facilities on the Canary Islands under the humanitarian programme funded by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration. Accem opened a reception facility in Tenerife under the humanitarian programme and within the Plan Canarias. It was initially planned that the facility would count 2,400 places, but it finally was created with 1,500 places, and employing 220 professionals. The organisation provides a comprehensive assistance to migrants (i.e. legal support, psychological assistance, interpretation, health assistance, etc.). The centre hosts solely men, the vast majority coming from Morocco and Senegal. In November 2021, Accem opened also an emergency humanitarian assistance and referral centre in Lanzarote with 1,000 places, within the Plan Canarias and from August 2021 it started to manage four flats with a total of 18 places in Tenerife within the programme for the humanitarian assistance of migrants. The flats host women and women with children.[25]
The Fundación Cruz Blanca opened one centre in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with 140 places for women and mothers with underage children, which increased in 2023 up to 238 places, and another facility with a capacity of 32 places for men with children.[26] The organisation Fundación Cruz Blanca, which is specialised in the assistance to trafficked persons, has also opened two centres in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. One centre has 40 places available and aims to provide comprehensive assistance to women and their children presumed to be victims of human trafficking; while the other centre had 25 places and is dedicated to women presumed to be victim of trafficking.[27] As previously mentioned, IOM also started its operations on the Canary Islands at the beginning of 2021, more specifically in Tenerife, where it managed a facility counting with 1,100 reception places (reduced to 1,054 due to the necessity to assure anti COVID-19 measures).[28] The IOM finalised its operation in the archipelago in June 2022.
In April 2021 the Administrative Court (Juzgado de lo Contencioso Administrativo) nº 5 of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria established that a migrant can fly from Canarias to the mainland using his/her passport or asylum application, and that this is compatible with the COVID-19 restrictions measures to movement.[29]
Transfers increased to mainland in April 2021, when the Government transferred 1,800 persons during 5 weeks,[30] being 4,385 those transferred since the beginning of the year.[31]
In 2021, Amnesty International denounced that, despite the approval of the Canarias Plan, reception conditions continue to be inadequate.[32] Thanks to the transfers to mainland, at the end of May 2021 the reception facilities at the Canary Islands consistently reduced the numbers of migrants hosted.[33] The organisation also called the Government to take measures in order to guarantee decent reception conditions, as well as access to the asylum procedure, the right to information and to legal assistance, together with fostering transfers of vulnerable persons to mainland.[34] Similarly, in a thematic report published that same year Amnesty International denounced the failure of the migration policy and of the asylum system at the Canary Islands, and alleged that Spanish authorities did not guarantee adequate reception conditions nor access to a fair and efficient asylum procedure to migrants and refugees reaching the archipelago by sea.[35]
The Canary Islands continue to lack the capacity to face the rapid increase in sea arrivals; this negatively impacts also centres for unaccompanied minors, that struggle to provide adequate reception conditions and services.[36] This situation persisted in 2023, and worsened in the fall of 2023, when the archipelago experienced a huge increase in sea arrivals. In order to overcome the lack of appropriate and sufficient reception facilities, newcomers were transferred in different reception places across the mainland, including in hotels and encampments put in place to that purpose.[37] Due to this situation, the NGO ‘CEAR’ called on the Autonomous Communities for more solidarity among them in sharing the welcoming and reception of the migrants who arrive to the Canary Islands.[38]
It has been underlined that the emergency approach adopted in dealing with the situation on the islands leads to severe delays in procedures such as age assessment, access to residence permits for children, enrolment in training and vocational courses.[39] Lack of accommodations places targeting ageing out adolescents has caused a great vulnerability of youth migrants when leaving minors protection centres when aging out. Coordination with the other Spanish autonomous communities is needed, and support by the central government is vital to deal with the situation in the long term.
A report published by the Mixed Migration Centre, Save the Children and Médicos del Mundo found that the lack of standardized or comprehensive protocol for managing arrivals and screening often renders children difficult to identify for the authorities. Identification is a challenge as lawyers and interpreters are not systematically present when children arrive, so is common for refugees and migrants not to be properly counselled and informed. In addition, children do not receive adequate information about their rights, including the right to asylum. Furthermore, professionals at the reception centres are not trained to recognize those who could apply for asylum, resulting in a very few asylum requests. Access to specialized psychosocial support for children is also needed, considering the migration route’s difficulty and that many of them have suffered violence on previous migratory phases.[40]
A thematic report published by the organisation Irídia in May 2022 denounced the human rights violations and the discrimination of migrants arriving at the Canary Islands in accessing their rights, as well as the general inadequacy of the reception facilities in terms of infrastructures and precarious conditions.[41]
Moreover, as already mentioned above, the EUAA started to support Spanish asylum authorities, after having agreed upon an operational plan mainly focused on support to reception. This includes providing enhanced capacity to reception services in the Canary Islands. In January 2021, the EUAA carried out a needs’ assessment mission at six sites in the Canary Islands, which have received a high number of persons with international protection needs in recent months. The mission was carried out in order to enable the Agency to tailor its support to the specific needs in the region, and the results were discussed with the State Secretary for Migration of Spain.[42] The Operation Plan on Special Support to reception agreed between the EUAA and Spain foresees a set of areas where the EU agency can support the Spanish Government, including assessing ‘the need for actions in support of emergency reception facilities with a specific focus on the Canary Islands’.[43] As mentioned above, a new operational plan for 2023-2026 has been agreed between Spain and the EUAA, with foresees measures also aimed at strengthening the reception system in the archipelago.[44]
Living conditions in Cañada Real of Madrid
An informal settlement of Cañada Real has been set up in Madrid where many migrants and other persons live. The living conditions are extremely poor and, since the last quarter of 2020, there is no electricity available. This situation affects around 4,600 persons, including 1,800 children, many of them of a young age. The situation persisted at the beginning of 2023.[45] The responsible authorities have not taken any measures to address this issue yet.
Since 2020[46] different relevant national and international stakeholders (i.e. the Spanish Ombudsperson[47] and different UN Rapporteurs[48]) have denounced the seriousness of the situation and its impact on the health of children, as well as the violation of the conventions ratified by Spain.[49]
The case opened at the end of 2020 against the Autonomous Community of Madrid and Naturgy/Unión Fenosa (the company providing the service) is still ongoing at the time of writing.[50] Detailed information on the issue can be found in the 2020 and 2021 updates of this report.
In December 2021, Amnesty International launched a campaign to collect signatures to request the Autonomous Community of Madrid and the Municipalities of Madrid and of Rivas Vacia-Madrid to urgently act to guarantee electricity and contracts at Cañada Real, where around 4,000 persons (including 1,812 children) are living in dire conditions since they were deprived of electricity.[51]
At the end of October 2022, the Committee on Social Rights of the Council of Europe urged the Spanish Government to restore the electricity in the area, and established a deadline on 15 December for the government to provide information on the measures implemented to comply with such requirement.[52] The day after the expiration, Save the Children reported that national authorities had not respected their commitments.[53]
In December 2022, Save the Children launched the campaign #LUZPARALACAÑADA, with the aim of collecting 60,000 signatures and of asking national and local institutions (i.e. the Spanish Government, the Autonomous Community of Madrid and the Municipality of Madrid) to restore immediately the energy supply, and to double the efforts to unblock the delay of Naturgy in the energy provision.[54] In addition, many persons gathered in from of the Assembly of Madrid to protest against the lack of electricity in the settlement for two years.[55] In October 2023, the Cañada Real continued to be without electricity after 3 years.[56]
Living conditions in other informal settlements
The situation in informal settlements across Spain (especially in Andalucía) continued to be a concern in 2023. Many migrants, asylum seekers/refugees/persons in need of international protection and seasonal migrant workers live in these settlements in poor living conditions and with no access to basic services.[57] Many of them are victims of trafficking, forced labour and forced prostitution.[58]
In January 2023 the police evicted more than 50 persons still remaining in the informal settlement of ‘El Walili’ (Almería), following a judicial decision establishing the eviction.[59] In August, the NGO ‘La Carpa’ lodged a claim before the Spanish Ombudsperson denouncing the discriminatory treatment received by migrants living in informal settlements during a forest fire close to Huelva. In fact, while the population was included in the evacuation and temporary reception plan, migrants living in the affected informal settlements were not accommodated in the sports centres used to host evacuees.[60] In September a fire destroyed more than 200 shacks in Huelva.[61]
In November 2023, the NGO Andalucía Acoge met with different Members of the European Parliament in Brussels, to present its thematic report on the situation of informal settlements published in 2022, and to address the violation of the rights that migrant workers living in the informal settlements in Huelva and Almería face, and to urge the Parliament to monitor compliance with the EU framework for the protection of migrants.[62]
A study published in June 2023 underlined the situation of physical and social exclusion that persons living in informal settlements face, the lack of appropriate living conditions, the scarcity of infrastructures and the lack of access to basic rights and services (i.e. health, housing, etc.).[63]
In August 2023 the First Strategic Plan to eradicate informal settlements and substandard housing and to foster the social inclusion of persons (basically migrants) living in agricultural areas in Andalucía was approved by the Autonomous Community’s Government.[64]
At the beginning of 2024, the Government of Andalucía allocated almost EUR 2 million to the Municipalities of Lepe, Moguer and Lucena del Puerto, with the aim of improving living conditions for temporary migrant workers in informal settlements.[65]
[1] Human Rights Watch, ‘Spain: LGBT Asylum Seekers Abused in North African Enclave’, 28 April 2017, available at: http://bit.ly/2oS5jTD. See also The Guardian, ‘In limbo in Melilla: the young refugees trapped in Spain’s African enclave’, 10 May 2017, available at: http://bit.ly/2pyuTxb; Amnesty International, El asilo en España: Un sistema de acogida poco acogedor, May 2016, available in Spanish at: https://goo.gl/G1YtPi, 37; UNICEF, Acogida en España de los niños refugiados, 2016, available in Spanish at: https://goo.gl/SaBZgo; Defensor del Pueblo, El asilo en España: La protección internacional y los recursos del sistema de acogida, June 2016, available in Spanish at: https://goo.gl/rJrg3k, 64
[2] Council of Europe, Report of the fact-finding mission by Ambassador Tomáš Boček, Special Representative of the Secretary General on migration and refugees, to Spain, 18-24 March 2018, SG/Inf(2018)25, 3 September 2018, available at: https://bit.ly/3SFhUJV, para 5.1.
[3] Ibid.
[4] IOM, UNHCR, IOM and UNHCR ask for an urgent and coordinated response to the alarming reception conditions of refugees and migrants in Melilla, 3 August 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/2Ke869o.
[5] Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘Spain’s authorities must find alternatives to accommodating migrants, including asylum seekers, in substandard conditions in Melilla’, 3 September 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/3oSDbic.
[6] Human Rights Watch, World report 2021. Spain – Events of 2020, January 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/39x7i8c.
[7] El Faro de Melilla, ‘La ocupación del CETI baja de los 1.000 residentes por primera vez desde 2017’, 8 July 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3nCvZI5.
[8] Melilla Hoy, ‘El CETI, bajo mínimos: solo hay 3 migrantes acogidos’, 13 March 2023, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3Z8dwTF; El Faro de Melilla, ‘El CETI bate su récord histórico: cierra 2022 con solo 5 migrantes acogidos’, 10 January 2023, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/407FgJn.
[9] Ceuta Actualidad, ‘Descenso histórico: CETI de Ceuta acoge el menor número de inmigrantes desde 2010’, 26 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/5yee56sa.
[10] Sira, ‘Las condiciones de acogida en Frontera Sur agravan el sufrimiento psíquico de las personas migrantes que llegan a España’, January 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3lxGsqH.
[11] It has to be noted that migrants and asylum seekers/persons in need of international protection can be hosted in the same facilities at the Canary Islands, and in many occasions the sources do not distinguish properly between the two categories. Maybe sources speak about migrants, but also asylum seekers/persons in need of international protection can be included in such label.
[12] Canarias7,’¿Qué pasa con los inmigrantes cuando llegan a España en situación irregular?’, 19 November 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/39I856n.
[13] El Diario, ‘El Ministerio de Migraciones inspecciona el CIE de Fuerteventura para valorar su reapertura como espacio de acogida’, 19 June 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/2Kx8qAn.
[14] Cope, ‘La llegada de inmigrantes obliga a buscar edificios para que pasen la cuarentena’, 27 May 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3qCfP0t.
[15] Cadena Ser, ‘Siete migrantes llevan más de 24 días en un campamento de Arguineguín sin duchas’, 13 November 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3dq04qc.
[16] El País, ‘Un baño de lejía para clausurar el campamento del muelle de Arguineguín’, 30 November 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3sCGbBi; El País, El Gobierno vacía el campamento de Arguineguín, 29 November 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/35TkyTL.
[17] El Diario, ‘Archivada la denuncia contra el hacinamiento de personas en Arguineguín’, 17 January 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/355rfVa.
[18] El Diario, ‘La Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado critica el archivo del recurso sobre muelle de Arguineguín’, 18 January 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3tDrrFp.
[19] El País,’ El defensor del pueblo: “Confinar inmigrantes en Canarias no es la solución”, 4 December 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/39JVjnQ; La Vanguardia, ‘CEAR pide al Gobierno que traslade a migrantes de Canarias a la Península’, 18 November 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/39SyzC6.
[20] El Diario, Un gran campamento de migrantes llamado Canarias: “Quieren convertir las islas en Lesbos”, 21 November 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3bOoZD5; El Día, ‘José Antonio Moreno Díaz: “Canarias es una válvula del Estado para medir el acceso de migrantes”, 14 November 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/2KuqURQ; El Día, ‘“Están utilizando todas las herramientas para que nadie salga del Archipiélago”’, 19 January 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/34ojXvJ.
[21] Information provided by Accem in April 2024.
[22] Defensor del Pueblo, ‘Informe anual 2021 y debates en las Cortes Generales Volumen l. Informe’, March 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3Pu0Amr; Cope, ‘El Defensor del Pueblo alerta que la acogida de mujeres migrantes en Canarias falla’, 14 May 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3PtaSmL; Efe, ‘La acogida falla con ellas: no detecta casos de trata o que merecen refugio’, 13 May 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3QU8Kpn.
[23] El Diario, ‘El Gobierno central abre el Canarias 50 con 442 plazas iniciales para albergar migrantes en la capital grancanaria’, 15 January 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3quSkqf.
[24] Cope, ‘Médicos del Mundo teme que los nuevos campamentos de migrantes en Canarias repliquen la situación de Arguineguín’, 2 December 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/2Ktg3ru.
[25] Information provided by Accem-Canarias on 17 February 2022.
[26] Information provided by Fundación Cruz Blanca in March 2024.
[27] Information provided by Fundación Cruz Blanca on 11 February 2022 and confirmed in March 2024.
[28] Information provided by the IOM on 4 March 2022.
[29] Público, ‘Un juez dictamina que un migrante puede volar desde Canarias a la Península con su pasaporte o una solicitud de asilo’, 15 April 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3GMfrVC.
[30] Canarias 7, ‘El Estado ha trasladado a la península a 1.800 inmigrantes en las últimas cinco semanas’, 10 May 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3fBYQYD.
[31] El Diario, ‘El Gobierno acelera los traslados de migrantes de Canarias a la Península: 4.385 en lo que va de año’, 8 May 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/33vTmwg.
[32] Amnistía Internacional, ‘Canarias: la infinita espera’, 4 May 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3GNYt9t.
[33] El País, ‘Los traslados bajan a mínimos las cifras de migrantes acogidos en Canarias’, 31 May 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3GP08f8.
[34] Amnistía Internacional, ‘El gobierno está a tiempo de impedir que Canarias se convierta en otra frontera europea sin derechos para las personas migrantes y refugiadas’, 27 July 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3FKahrW.
[35] Amnistía Internacional, ‘Canarias: fracaso en las políticas migratorias’, December 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3fRwXMF.
[36] El Confidencial, ‘Canarias, sin plazas para acoger menores: el próximo niño deberá quedarse en comisaría’, 1 February 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/365KHBz.
[37] ABC, ‘El traslado de migrantes desde Canarias, una ‘sacudida’ política a nivel nacional’, 27 October 2023, available at: https://shorturl.at/kMPW6; La Vanguardia, ‘Trasladan a unos 200 migrantes más desde Canarias a un hotel de Almería’, 27 October 2023, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3OkTbs0; Hoy Aragón, ‘140 migrantes serán realojados en Zaragoza y Tarazona tras la llegada de otros 200 a Huesca’, 28 October 2023, available in Spanish at: https://tinyurl.com/57y2a252; Diario de Almería, ‘Llegan 200 inmigrantes más desde Canarias, ahora a un hotel de Aguadulce’, 27 October 2023, available in Spanish at: https://tinyurl.com/2s3m8m4f; Onda Cero, ‘El gobierno de España prepara un campamento para 300 migrantes en una explanada en Cartagena’, 27 October 2023, available in Spanish at: https://tinyurl.com/yc6r4esp; La Vanguardia, ‘CyL acoge a 395 inmigrantes procedentes de Canarias en seis provincias’, 25 October 2023, available in Spanish at: https://tinyurl.com/mre82exk; La Razón, ‘El Gobierno planea habilitar en terrenos militares nuevos centros de acogida para migrantes’, 20 October 2023, available in Spanish at: https://tinyurl.com/47mysvun.
[38] El Diario, ‘La Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado pide solidaridad entre comunidades para un reparto equitativo de migrantes’, 7 November 2023, available in Spanish at: https://tinyurl.com/23zkmn2y.
[39] Information provided by Save the Children on 11 February 2022.
[40] Mixed Migration Centre, Save the Children, Médicos del Mundo, ‘A Gateway Re-opens: the growing popularity of the Atlantic route, as told by those who risk it’, February 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3Jrw6yG.
[41] Irídia, ‘Nuevas vulneraciones de derechos humanos a las personas migrantes en Canarias’, May 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3K1hx8c.
[42] EASO, ‘Spanish State Secretary for Migration visits EASO following launch of new operation in the country’, 1 February 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3rgJkFA.
[43] EASO, ‘Operating plan. Special support on reception agreed by EASO and Spain’, 2021, available at: https://bit.ly/32HvuFI.
[44] EUAA; ‘Operational Plan 2023-2026 agreed by the European Union Agency for Asylum and Spain’, 12 June 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/m23pjfm7.
[45] El Salto Diario, ‘Cañada Real. Dos años a oscuras’, 26 April 2023, available in Spanish at: https://rb.gy/umm0b.
[46] For more detailed information, see AIDA, Country Report: Spain – Update on the year 2022, April 2023, available at: https://bit.ly/3SaHE0K.
[47] Defensor del Pueblo, El Defensor exige a la Comunidad de Madrid y a la Delegación de Gobierno una solución urgente para restablecer la luz en la Cañada Real, 21 December 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3qDSxHK.
[48] United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Spain: Power outages put children’s lives at risk in informal settlement – UN experts, 22 December 2020, available at: https://bit.ly/2M3hz3Y.
[49] El País, “Dejar a familias en esta terrible situación es una violación de convenios que España ha ratificado”, 9 January 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3p5TaJF; El País, ‘La ONU insiste: España incumple el derecho internacional en la Cañada Real’, 18 February 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/2OX01rT.
[50] Cadena Ser, ‘El informe pericial de un juzgado concluye que Naturgy tiene limitadores eléctricos que provocan los cortes de luz en la Cañada Real’, 18 March 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3ZKo2lg.
[51] Amnistía Internacional, ‘Cañada real: 4.000 personas esperan la luz’, December 2021, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3qwAzbI.
[52] El País, ‘El Consejo de Europa insta a España a garantizar luz y calefacción a los habitantes de la Cañada Real’, 27 October 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3WAPLSX.
[53] Tele Madrid, ‘Se incumple el plazo dado por Europa para devolver la luz a la Cañada Real madrileña’, 16 december 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3YPpem3.
[54] Save the Children, ‘¡Políticos, devolved la luz a los niños y niñas de la Cañada Real!’, December 2022, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3wkvotm.
[55] El Salto Diario, ‘La Cañada Real pide luz y futuro’, 6 January 2023, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3vNSXjo.
[56] El Salto Diario, ‘La Cañada Real resiste: tres años sin luz en este vecindario madrileño’, 2 October 2023, available in Spanish at: https://tinyurl.com/23jwkdr8.
[57] Público, ‘Sin casa, sin trabajo y sin comida: migrantes al límite en Andalucía’, 22 May 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3iD9xLj.
[58] Revista la Mar de Onuba, ‘Nuevas detenciones en el entorno agrario por explotación laboral de trabajadores en condiciones de esclavitud’, 27 May 2020, available in Spanish at: https://bit.ly/3sHpB3g.
[59] El Salto Diario, ‘Desalojan El Walili sin alternativas para sus habitantes’, 30 January 2023, available in Spanish at: https://rb.gy/gifyy.
[60] La Vanguardia, ‘Denuncian ante el Defensor el trato dado a inmigrantes afectados por el fuego de Bonares’, 6 August 2023, available in Spanish at: https://rb.gy/9itbb.
[61] Izquierda Diario, ‘Un nuevo incendio arrasa un asentamiento de jornaleras de la fresa en Huelva’, 28 September 2023, available in Spanish at: https://rb.gy/6u7kj.
[62] Andalucía Acoge, ‘Andalucía Acoge presenta su informe sobre asentamientos en el Parlamento Puropeo’, 8 November 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yc2ahnrz.
[63] Iseak, Fundación Secretariado Gitano, ‘Estudio sobre el perfil y la situación de las personas en los asentamientos chabolistas y de infravivienda en España’, June 2023, available at: https://tinyurl.com/4t39c9eh
[64] Iustel, ‘I Plan Estratégico para la erradicación de asentamientos informales y la inclusión social de personas residentes en zonas agrícolas de Andalucía conformados por población migrante’, 1 August 2023, available in Spanish at: https://rb.gy/i85kb.
[65] Huleva Información, ‘Dos millones de euros para erradicar asentamientos en Lepe, Moguer y Lucena del Puerto’, 5 January 2024, available at: https://www.huelvainformacion.es/provincia/asentamientos-Lepe-Moguer-Lucena-Puerto_0_1863713837.html.