Congress votes to reinstate universal healthcare access
In a reversal of restrictions placed on healthcare access in 2012 by the conservative Partido Popular (PP) government of then-President Mariano Rajoy,…
Refugees & Migration
Gov’t says migrant expulsions put traffickers on notice
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told Spain’s Congress this week that the summary deportation of 116 migrants who stormed the perimeter fence of…
Supreme Court orders gov’t to process asylum requests
Spain’s Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court) has ordered the Spanish government to step up processing of asylum requests in order to comply with…
Open Arms ship arrives with 60 migrants rescued at sea
After a four-day voyage across the Mediterranean, a rescue vessel operated by non-governmental organization Proactiva Open Arms docked in Barcelona on Wednesday…
Spain gets more EU funding to handle migrant influx
The governments of Spain, Greece and Germany have reached a special trilateral agreement that will free up 25.6 million euros in funding…
Valencia receives 629 Aquarius migrants rescued at sea
Three ships bearing 629 migrants rescued at sea last week were welcomed at the port of Valencia at the weekend, delivering into…
Sánchez showcases progressive centre-Left government
► New cabinet includes 11 women, 6 men and first openly gay ministers ► ► Sánchez restructures ministries, brings 5 independents onto…
Proactiva denounces campaign against refugee rescue
Spain’s Proactiva Open Arms refugee rescue organization has appealed to the European Parliament over what it says is a campaign of harassment…
More LGBT applicants among 2017 asylum seekers
Spanish immigration authorities rejected two-thirds of all asylum petitions received in 2017, a year in which the number of applicants for asylum…
Increase in minors among refugees cause for concern
The special representative of the Council of Europe’s general secretariat on migrations and refugees has announced a visit to Spain to look…
NGOFILE :: SOS Racismo
SOS Racismo (SOS Racism) is an umbrella movement of eight distinct organizations, officially known as the national Federation of Associations of SOS…
300pct increase in migrants, refugees arriving by boat
► Andalucia surge as migrants reroute from Libya, Eastern Mediterranean ► The number of migrants and asylum seekers arriving by boat to…
Reports say Spain too lax against racism, discrimination
► European agency report calls for independent body on racism, intolerance ► The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) has called…
Amnesty report criticizes Spain on human rights issues
► Report cites freedom of speech, refugees, evictions, excessive police force ► Amnesty International has criticized the Spanish government’s handling of human…
PP gov’t advances overseas aid plan rejected by NGOs
► Government to hold 2018 foreign aid spending to lowest levels since 1980s ► Spain’s governing Partido Popular (PP) has relied on…
NGOFILE :: Médicos Sin Fronteras
Médicos Sin Fronteras (or Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF), known in English as “Doctors Without Borders,” is an international non-governmental organization that since…
Aid NGOs fear negative fallout from Oxfam Haiti scandal
► Widening scandal threatens to undermine humanitarian work of all NGOs ► Spain’s umbrella federation of overseas development aid and humanitarian relief…
Cáritas Spain assigns €1.34mn to migrant resettlement
► Funds for shelter, services to integrate refugees, migrants arriving to Spain ► The challenge of resettling and integrating an increasing number…
NGOFILE :: Cáritas Española ~ Spanish Caritas
Cáritas Española is the Spanish affiliate of the Catholic church’s international charity and humanitarian relief agency Cáritas Inernational, working within Spain as…
Unicef Spain says cyber-bullies target minority children
? Report says connectivity costs put many children at risk of social exclusion ? Unicef Comité Español, the Spanish National Committee for…
NGOs mark Tarajal border tragedy with call for justice
► CEAR, AI lead commemoration of migrants’ deaths in Ceuta border crossing ► Spanish NGOs working to protect the rights of immigrants…
NGOFILE :: PROACTIVA OPEN ARMS
Proactiva Open Arms is a Spanish non-governmental organization based in Barcelona and dedicated to search-and-rescue operations to save refugees who are stranded…
PSOE urges more gov’t action against genital mutilation
► Nearly 19,000 girls of African origin residing in Spain currently at risk ► Spain’s Socialist party (PSOE) has called on the…
NGOs enlist ADIF to educate about humanitarian relief
► ‘Behind the emergency’ exhibit tours Spanish train station lobbies ’til April ► Acción contra el Hambre (Action Against Hunger), the Spanish…
CEAR slams Spain’s ‘de facto’ wall against immigrants
► Migrants, refugees detained and deported without due process, says NGO ► The Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR, or “Spanish…
Bishops seek changes to Spain’s immigration policies
► Church criticizes CIE detention centre conditions, summary deportations ► A spokesman for Spain’s Catholic Bishops Conference has called on the government…
Progressive Spain’s Top Ten Video Posts for 2017
Following are 2017’s ‘Top Ten Videos’ posted at Progressive Spain — our second annual selection based on a combination of the power,…
NGOs urge more action on migrant, refugee relocation
► On Int’l Migrants Day, NGOs demand better conditions, attention to minors ► Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working with migrants and refugees have…
Use of prison to house migrants sparks controversy
• Vatican joins NGOS, political parties critical of use of new prison near Malaga • Gov’t says recent wave of ‘boat people’…
Political asylum applications to Spain soaring in 2017
• Venezuelan applicants jump sharply to 7,400, 32% of total through September • 23,200 petitions in first 9 months compares to 16,554…
Spain releases millions in funding for Catalan NGOs
• Central gov’t says NGOs to receive 10.2 mn in frozen social services funding • Funds part of Catalan gov’t budget said…