Barcelona, Catalonia: The initial week of a new process to regularise 150,000 migrants living and working in Catalonia has been characterised by 12-hour queues outside town halls and social organisations. This follows last-minute improvisation to adapt to the final instruction approved by the Spanish government.
Elida Rojas, a Bolivian woman with two children, waited in a long line stretching across half a block in Barcelona's Eixample district. She said, "They say we don't need the vulnerability report or the padrón (municipal registration), but I know people whose applications were then not accepted." Similar scenes unfolded at Barcelona City Council's Citizen Attention Offices and the municipal service for migrants and refugees (SAIER).
Volunteer Strain and Resource Shortages
In the La Florida neighbourhood of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, two collaborating organisations are overwhelmed by the unexpected number of people seeking assistance. Mariló Fernández from the La Fundició foundation explained that her organisation and the local residents' association responded to the Spanish government's call for social involvement to "help local residents with the necessary procedures." However, the government added the vulnerability report requirement just before the process began.
Fernández stated, "We didn't want to make reports, and now we've made 2,000 for people arriving at our premises, desperate for a solution from Igualada, Sant Vicenç dels Horts, Manresa... We can't cope anymore." She criticised the limited support social entities receive from town councils and the Catalan government. In La Florida, Fernández confirmed that their premises are too small, and regular activities have suffered. They have had to reserve a separate space to try and maintain programmes for resident families. Volunteers are working shifts, paying for "€800 in photocopies" from their own pockets, and bringing scanners or photocopiers from home.
Àmbit Prevenció, an NGO in Barcelona's La Bordeta neighbourhood, has had to reduce its pace. The organisation's president, Mercè Meroño, reported that during the first week, volunteers and friends were exhausted. They are also assisting many people they had not previously encountered, who form long queues outside, sometimes even at night. The entity has limited its hours for preparing vulnerability reports to Tuesday to Thursday mornings, without appointments, to continue serving regular users.
Criticism of Institutional Response
Meroño views the queues as evidence of "degrading and inhumane treatment" towards migrants by institutions. Victoria Columba, spokesperson for Regulización Ya, the movement that initiated the Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP) for this process, strongly echoed this criticism. She condemned the current situation where people queue at night and argued that Barcelona City Council and the Catalan government are not acting as they did with the arrival of 250,000 Ukrainians fleeing the war, who received special and express residence permits.
Columba recalled, "That process was done in an orderly way, you didn't see Ukrainians crying in queues, and everyone was attended to quickly in habilitated centres, like the one at Fira." In contrast, those seeking regularisation now face what she describes as disdain for their situation, which she believes fuels xenophobic discourse and the far right. "The administrations have not been up to the task," she concluded.
Despite criticisms regarding the Spanish government's instruction lacking specific details, Columba maintained that "everything is clear." She believes that social services demanding padrón or vulnerability reports are "self-serving interpretations," as the text does not mention them. Applicants can prove their minimum five-month stay in Spain with a transport ticket, library card, or other bills.
Administrative Hurdles and Local Variations
The requirement by some town councils to issue reports only to their residents complicates the process for those unable to prove residency. This includes people living in sublet accommodation, those whose landlords refuse to register them, or those living on the streets. Furthermore, some councils do not register individuals without a fixed address. "That's what social entities are for," a town council source told ARA.
In contrast, the social services department of Tordera City Council has chosen not to request the padrón, following the instruction's wording to maximise access to regularisation. Carlos Hidalgo, head of the service, noted that even the Catalan government's Directorate General of Migration had trouble resolving doubts about who signs official documentation during training courses for municipal officials.
Hidalgo's complaint largely focuses on the Spanish government's failure to consider the experience and criteria of the College of Social Work of Catalonia, whose professionals are "on the front line." A colleague from another council criticised the lack of reinforced teams, which are already strained by managing other procedures.
Digital Challenges and Future Steps
Social entities participate in this process on a non-profit basis, aiming to help the people they already serve. The Ministry of Inclusion has authorised dozens of associations to process the required documentation via the Mercurio platform. However, professionals consulted agree that the urgency has forced them to focus efforts on vulnerability reports. Many associations, despite their good intentions, are inexperienced and have had to organise themselves as best they can.
In daily operations, entities discovered that using Mercurio required a personal digital certificate, not the organisation's. Meroño explained, "Volunteers have had to download the certificate to our computers to carry out the procedures." Moving forward, clearer guidelines, increased institutional support, and better resourcing for social entities will be essential to ensure a smoother and more humane regularisation process for migrants in Catalonia.
