Three years on from start of war, thousands of Ukrainians still move to Catalonia each year

Registrations of Ukrainians newly living in Catalonia have not stopped since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion, which began three years ago.

In 2024, there were a total of 4,228 newly registered Ukrainians living in Catalonia, according to data from Spain's National Statistics Institute. This means that a total of 28,800 Ukrainians moved to the territory since March 2022.

Not all 28,800 are necessarily still living in Catalonia, though, as the data only tracks registrations with local councils - known as the "empadronament" in Catalan. In fact, no official data has emerged on the number of Ukrainians who have returned to their country.

However, several indicators suggest that the community continues to grow in Catalonia, as school enrollments have grown by 50% in the last year to 6,824 and social security registrations by 7%.

The majority of the 28,800 Ukrainians who have registered in municipal logs since early March 2022 came during the first months of the conflict. That month, 6,763 Ukrainians fleeing hostilities registered, and half of the total who have signed up so far did so in the first five months of the war.

In Spain as a whole, there are 134,643 Ukrainians who have registered with the city councils between March 2022 and December 2024, with 21.4% of whom doing so in Catalonia.

The Ukrainian community in Catalonia is predominantly female, as 61.7% of those registered with a health card in Catalonia at the beginning of this year were women.

Rally

Around 2,500 people, according to the local police, gathered in Barcelona on Sunday evening to mark the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The rally, organised by the Ukrainian community in Catalonia under the banner #StandWithUkraine, described the conflict as "cruel" and "unjust." 

'Russian troops out of Ukraine' and 'Europe, listen, it's your fight too' were some of the slogans chanted by the crowd.

Signs in English, Catalan and Spanish criticized Putin and Russia, but also Trump calling him a "traitor." 

The march started at the European Parliament Office in Barcelona and ended with speeches in Plaça de Catalunya.

"Ukraine is the shield for the entire civilized world, with democratic values ​​and principles, of peace and justice,” said the Ukrainian consul in Barcelona, ​​Vitalli Tsymbaliuk.

The Castellers de Cerdanyola made two human tours displaying the flags of Ukraine and the EU.