https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Spain in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Spain's parliament voted on Tuesday to debate an initiative which calls for the legalisation of all undocumented migrants living in the country. https://www.thelocal.es/20240410/spain-to-debate-blanket-legalisation-of-its-500000-undocumented-migrants Wed, 10 Apr 2024 11:21:45 +0200 spain-to-debate-blanket-legalisation-of-its-500000-undocumented-migrants Five employees at Barcelona’s El Prat airport have been arrested for helping migrants without a visa to evade passport control and enter Spain illegally.  https://www.thelocal.es/20231016/barcelona-airport-staff-arrested-for-helping-undocumented-migrants-enter-spain Mon, 16 Oct 2023 13:16:00 +0200 barcelona-airport-staff-arrested-for-helping-undocumented-migrants-enter-spain The EU wants an accord by the end of 2023 on how to handle the thousands of migrants heading for the continent, despite fierce opposition by Hungary and Poland, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Monday. https://www.thelocal.es/20230704/spains-pm-eu-wants-deal-on-migrant-policy-by-year-end Tue, 04 Jul 2023 11:28:47 +0200 spains-pm-eu-wants-deal-on-migrant-policy-by-year-end Emergency services in the Spanish Canary Islands said Thursday they had saved at least 350 migrants in five separate vessels over the last 24 hours off the Canary Islands. https://www.thelocal.es/20230623/350-rescued-off-spains-canary-islands-after-fatal-migrant-shipwreck Fri, 23 Jun 2023 12:48:40 +0200 350-rescued-off-spains-canary-islands-after-fatal-migrant-shipwreck At least 40 migrants are believed to have drowned when their dinghy sank in the Atlantic Ocean off the Canary Islands, Spanish non-profit group Walking Borders said on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.es/20230622/forty-migrants-feared-dead-off-spains-canaries Thu, 22 Jun 2023 10:56:21 +0200 forty-migrants-feared-dead-off-spains-canaries Spain, which is about to assume the European Union's rotating presidency, said on Thursday it hoped to finish the bloc's migration policy reform by the end of the year. https://www.thelocal.es/20230615/spain-hopes-to-seal-eu-migration-deal-by-end-of-year Thu, 15 Jun 2023 18:01:22 +0200 spain-hopes-to-seal-eu-migration-deal-by-end-of-year Spanish police said Thursday they have broken up a criminal group that exploited undocumented migrant workers in the agricultural sector, mainly from Morocco, and sold them false documents. https://www.thelocal.es/20230105/spanish-police-arrest-43-in-crackdown-on-migrant-worker-exploitation Thu, 05 Jan 2023 15:59:58 +0100 spanish-police-arrest-43-in-crackdown-on-migrant-worker-exploitation The number of migrants arriving illegally in Spain dropped by more than a quarter in 2022 over the previous year, mainly due to a fall in sea crossings, the Interior Ministry said Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.es/20230104/illegal-migration-to-spain-drops-in-2022 Wed, 04 Jan 2023 11:31:28 +0100 illegal-migration-to-spain-drops-in-2022 More than 11,200 migrants have died trying to reach Spain in the past five years, equating to a daily average of six people, Spanish NGO Caminando Fronteras said Monday. https://www.thelocal.es/20221220/since-2018-six-people-die-every-day-trying-to-reach-spain-ngo Tue, 20 Dec 2022 10:51:03 +0100 since-2018-six-people-die-every-day-trying-to-reach-spain-ngo Spanish police said Saturday they have broken up a gang suspected of smuggling Albanian migrants including children into Britain, hidden as stowaways in dangerous conditions aboard ferries and merchant ships. https://www.thelocal.es/20221008/spain-smashes-ring-smuggling-albanian-migrants-to-britain Sat, 08 Oct 2022 17:52:47 +0200 spain-smashes-ring-smuggling-albanian-migrants-to-britain Spanish rescuers on Monday found three dead migrants and 45 survivors, mostly Moroccan and some in very bad condition, on a boat off Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, the coastguard said. https://www.thelocal.es/20220815/three-dead-45-survivors-on-migrant-boat-rescued-off-spain Mon, 15 Aug 2022 16:23:20 +0200 three-dead-45-survivors-on-migrant-boat-rescued-off-spain Morocco on Thursday sentenced 14 migrants to eight months in jail following their arrest a day before a deadly mass crossing into the Spanish enclave of Melilla in June. https://www.thelocal.es/20220805/melilla-migrants-sentenced-to-8-months-in-moroccan-jail Fri, 05 Aug 2022 12:23:28 +0200 melilla-migrants-sentenced-to-8-months-in-moroccan-jail At least 978 migrants died or disappeared trying to reach Spain by sea in the first six months of 2022, an average of about five per day, a migrant rights group said Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.es/20220721/nearly-1000-migrants-died-trying-to-reach-spain-in-first-half-of-2022-ngo Thu, 21 Jul 2022 12:50:19 +0200 nearly-1000-migrants-died-trying-to-reach-spain-in-first-half-of-2022-ngo The Spanish government has defended the actions of Guardia Civil agents after 23 migrants died trying to enter the Spanish North African territory of Melilla last month. https://www.thelocal.es/20220714/spain-defends-guardia-civil-against-moroccan-human-rights-commission Thu, 14 Jul 2022 16:12:05 +0200 spain-defends-guardia-civil-against-moroccan-human-rights-commission Rallies were held in several Spanish cities and in Rabat on Friday. https://www.thelocal.es/20220702/protesters-rally-in-spain-morocco-over-migrant-deaths Sat, 02 Jul 2022 12:37:24 +0200 protesters-rally-in-spain-morocco-over-migrant-deaths A Spanish court on Thursday ruled that sending unaccompanied Moroccan minors back home after they entered the Ceuta enclave in May last year was illegal and violated their rights. https://www.thelocal.es/20220701/returning-minors-to-morocco-from-spain-enclave-illegal-court Fri, 01 Jul 2022 12:21:29 +0200 returning-minors-to-morocco-from-spain-enclave-illegal-court The African Union Commission chief has voiced shock at the "violent and degrading" treatment of African migrants trying to cross from Morocco into Spain after 23 people died, and called for an investigation into the incident. https://www.thelocal.es/20220628/au-urges-probe-into-deaths-of-africans-at-spain-morocco-border Tue, 28 Jun 2022 10:58:29 +0200 au-urges-probe-into-deaths-of-africans-at-spain-morocco-border Spain is one of the gateways into Europe for African migrants seeking a better life. But what happens when they arrive on Spanish shores? Are they given accommodation? Can they be repatriated or are they granted asylum? https://www.thelocal.es/20210518/explained-what-happens-to-undocumented-migrants-after-they-arrive-in-spain Tue, 18 May 2021 18:40:42 +0200 explained-what-happens-to-undocumented-migrants-after-they-arrive-in-spain Spain has granted Spanish nationality to a girl born on a migrant boat as her Cameroonian mother tried to reach Europe, Spanish authorities said Wednesday, adding it was a first for the country. https://www.thelocal.es/20220609/in-a-first-for-spain-girl-born-on-migrant-boat-is-granted-spanish-nationality Thu, 09 Jun 2022 11:21:27 +0200 in-a-first-for-spain-girl-born-on-migrant-boat-is-granted-spanish-nationality The Biden administration hopes Spain will commit to hosting a "symbolic but significant number" of Central American refugees, according to a report in US media echoed in the Spanish press.  https://www.thelocal.es/20220602/us-plans-to-strike-central-american-refugee-resettlement-deal-with-spain-report Thu, 02 Jun 2022 15:02:31 +0200 us-plans-to-strike-central-american-refugee-resettlement-deal-with-spain-report