The Multilevel Governance of Refugee Reception policies in Spain

Abstract

In Spain the number of asylum applications increased from 2,588 in 2012 and 5,947 in 2014 to 14,881 in 2015, 31,120 in 2017 and over 53,000 in 2018. Following the increase in the number of asylum applications and the state budget, the number of reception places went from 930 in September 2015 to 8,600 in December 2018. This growth has been made possible by the increase in the funding to (old and new asylum) CSOs. As a consequence, the balance in public-private management was broken: while before 2015 it was almost fifty-fifty, after 2015 CSOs are responsible for managing 94 percent of the reception places. In parallel, regional and local administrations entered into the picture despite not having any (legal and formal) competency in asylum and asylum seekers reception. In terms of policies, many Autonomous Communities and municipal councils prepared themselves for the arrival of those who had to be relocated from Italy and Greece. As relocated asylum seekers did not arrive though, or not in significant numbers, facilities were then adapted for those who were already in the country and who were not part or had already went through the state reception system and found themselves without access to (proper) housing. Beyond complementarity at the policy level, at the political level some regional and local administrations challenged the state-led reception system. Barcelona did it by “going Europe” and “going global” and the Catalan government by bringing the Spanish government to Courts alleging that “social services and assistance” aimed at the immigrant population were the competency of the autonomous communities. In January 2018 the Madrid’s High Court of Justice ruled in favour of the Catalan government, which means not only the reestructuring of the financing but also the redefinition of the reception system itself, implying more descentralisation and therefore the need for a formal redistribution system of asylum seekers across the national territory.

In Spain the number of asylum applications increased from 2,588 in 2012 and 5,947 in 2014 to 14,881 in 2015, 31,120 in 2017 and over 53,000 in 2018. Following the increase in the number of asylum applications and the state budget, the number of reception places went from 930 in September 2015 to 8,600 in December 2018. This growth has been made possible by the increase in the funding to (old and new asylum) CSOs. As a consequence, the balance in public-private management was broken: while before 2015 it was almost fifty-fifty, after 2015 CSOs are responsible for managing 94 percent of the reception places. In parallel, regional and local administrations entered into the picture despite not having any (legal and formal) competency in asylum and asylum seekers reception. In terms of policies, many Autonomous Communities and municipal councils prepared themselves for the arrival of those who had to be relocated from Italy and Greece. As relocated asylum seekers did not arrive though, or not in significant numbers, facilities were then adapted for those who were already in the country and who were not part or had already went through the state reception system and found themselves without access to (proper) housing. Beyond complementarity at the policy level, at the political level some regional and local administrations challenged the state-led reception system. Barcelona did it by “going Europe” and “going global” and the Catalan government by bringing the Spanish government to Courts alleging that “social services and assistance” aimed at the immigrant population were the competency of the autonomous communities. In January 2018 the Madrid’s High Court of Justice ruled in favour of the Catalan government, which means not only the reestructuring of the financing but also the redefinition of the reception system itself, implying more descentralisation and therefore the need for a formal redistribution system of asylum seekers across the national territory.