crisis

Spanish president Pedro Sánchez offers to take in stranded ship to avoid humanitarian crisis as Barcelona also makes its port available

In a performance, the organization reminded onlookers of the tragedy which saw close to 900 refugees drown off the shores of Lampedusa

Casa Nostra Casa Vostra’s Virginia Sánchez says activists who help asylum seekers are criminalized

The ‘Casa Nostra, Casa Vostra’ platform held a talk on February 18 evaluating and reflecting on the past year, which the Spanish government did not attend

2017 was “good year” according to industry association

From the mass demonstration in favor of hosting refugees to the independence declaration, it has been one of the most intense years ever in Catalonia

Only 30% of 120,000 asylum seekers have been relocated since 2015, in what Catalan Refugee Aid Commission is calling a "resounding fraud"

Rejection of C-Star ship comes after months of pro-refugee actions by Barcelona

Libyan coastguard patrol threatens to shoot waiting Proactiva Open Arms ship 

Barcelona hosts a conference with international experts on refugee integration

The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) and its partner in Catalonia (PSC) will create a committee made up of members from both parties to “tackle their relationship problems” and resolve the situation “as soon as possible”. According to PSC’s leader, Miquel Iceta, the committee will have to “evaluate and review if necessary” the relationship between the  parties, established in 1978. According to Javier Fernández, president of the interim managing committee which has led PSOE since last October, the fact that PSC broke the party line and refused to facilitate Mariano Rajoy’s investiture in October was “not serious” nor “democratic”. Indeed, many members of PSOE want PSC out of the Federal Committee and for them not to be able to participate in the Spanish Parliament. The tension between PSOE and PSC reached its height on the 29^th of October during the Spanish investiture debate, when 15 Socialist MPs said ‘no’ to Mariano Rajoy’s investiture, among whom were the seven MPs of the PSC. 

“We have been really focused on trying to solve it but I must admit we have failed”, stated Vueling President, Javier Sánchez-Prieto, in an interview published this Wednesday by Catalan newspaper ‘Ara’. Sánchez-Prieto conceded that mistakes were made by the Catalan low-cost airline’s management during the last weeks’ aerial chaos at Barcelona El Prat airport: Vueling cancelled more than 60 flights in the past four days and most of those flights which did operate suffered from delays, affecting nearly 78,000 passengers. A situation which was made worse by the repeated strikes of French air traffic controllers, the last of which started last Monday. “Honestly and being self-critical we should have appeared ahead of time and communicated better”, he stated. 

‘Amb les teves mans’ (‘With your hands’) is a Catalan NGO which has cre-ated a mobile dental clinic to attend refugees in Greece. The idea was born in March when some of the volunteers from this organisation trav-elled to Lesbos and Idomeni, on the border between Greece and Mace-donia. The doctors they talked to at the Idomeni camp explained that one of the main difficulties they have to deal with regarding the dental problems of the refugees is that many children under 13 have never had the opportunity to visit the dentist before. They will first carry out en-dodontic treatment, fillings for cavities, and tooth extractions for those who need them. The Catalan Association of Dentists has got involved in the project and is helping to find professional volunteers and the re-quired material.

Three Syrian families, including 4 minors, make up the 10 refugees which will be relocated to Catalonia. They are part of a group of 20 people which arrived this Tuesday in Madrid. 44 more people, expected to arrive on the 30^th of May, will follow this first group and 19 more will arrive on the 1^st of June. 67 more are due to arrive in Spain by the end of June. In addition, 50 more refugees from Italy will begin to be hosted in Spain shortly, of which 18 are already in Spain as part of a pilot programme. In total, 586 people will be relocated to Spain by the end of June, according to the current Spanish Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernández Díaz. Thus, Spain will become the fourth European country in terms of number of refugees hosted, but so far it only hosts 18 refugees of the 16,000 it has agreed to relocate. 

Under the slogan ‘Defend refugees. Achieve world peace’a dozen Nobel Peace Laureates, professors, students and worldwide organisations will tackle the refugee humanitarian crisis and try to offer practical solutions. At the presentation of the 15^th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Barcelona, current Catalan President, Artur Mas, assured that the Catalan capital and the whole of Catalonia “are ready”to welcome those who run from war. He described Catalonia as “a good laboratory”of social cohesion and reception experiences on an international scale, as it has repeatedly welcomed people from all over Spain and was the point of departure for many Civil War exiles. Barcelona City Hall’s First Deputy Mayor, Gerardo Pisarello, highlighted Barcelona’s efforts to become a world leader in peace and in respecting human rights.