Hi everyone, and welcome to this podcast , coming to from the Canary Islands to listeners around the globe.
Today I want to invite you to put yourself in the shoes of someone who, from one day to the next, loses everything. A home, a life, a country. This episode is called , and it is dedicated to those who look to our borders not only for a place to live, but also for a reason to start over again."
Today I want to invite you to put yourself in the shoes of someone who, from one day to the next, loses everything. A home, a life, a country. This episode is called "Spain: Land of Asylum (If You're Patient)," and is dedicated to those who search our borders not only for a place to live, but also a reason to start over.
Behind every number in the statistics is a face. A story that could be yours or mine if fate had played out differently.
Across the world, at the end of 2024, there were ≈122.6 million people forced to leave their homes.
Of these, some 43-44 million were refugees who had left their country of origin.
In Spain, 167,366 asylum applications were registered in 2024, a record number.
Of these applications, approximately 96,281 were resolved in 2024.
The international protection grant rate in Spain in 2024 was approximately 18.5% of applications, well below the European average (≈46.6%).
Regarding protection options:
- In 2023, 7,330 people were granted refugee status.
- In 2023, approximately 3,833 people were granted subsidiary protection.
- In 2023, 41,487 people were granted residency for humanitarian reasons, almost double the number in 2022.
A group that deserves special mention: refugees based on sexual orientation/gender identity/membership of the LGBTIQ+ community. In Spain, they already represented 11.4% of recognized refugees in 2025, compared to 8.9% a few years earlier.
The pressure on the system has also increased significantly: there are a large number of pending applications, resulting in very long waits.
Who are the most affected groups?
- People fleeing armed conflicts or protracted wars: Syria, Ukraine, etc.
- People persecuted for reasons of sexual orientation, gender identity, or belonging to the LGBTIQ+ community.
- People at risk due to their gender (gender-based violence, forced marriages, etc.). These reasons are recognized in Spanish asylum law.
- People fleeing political, religious, racial, national, or political opinion persecution.
- Unaccompanied minors: the number is growing significantly and their situation is particularly vulnerable (psychological risk, exploitation, etc.).
Asylum Process in Spain: Steps, Timeframes, and Difficulties
Here's how it works (or should work), but also what often goes wrong in practice:
Application/Declaration of Willingness to Request International Protection
The person must be physically present in Spain (ports, airports, border, mainland Spain, or islands) or enter through a border crossing.
Meanwhile, the person has a receipt that identifies them as an asylum seeker.
Sometimes we forget that behind every story is a life, a face, and a heart that beats with the same hopes as ours. Listening to, acknowledging, and respecting these realities is the first step toward building a more just and humane world. If we manage to look with empathy, we are already transforming the present and sowing the future.
Sometimes we forget that behind every story there is a life, a face, and a heart beating with the same hopes as ours. To listen, acknowledge, and respect those realities is the first step toward building a more just and humane world. If we manage to look with empathy, we are already transforming the present and sowing the future
Higher Technician in Sociocultural Dynamisation
Specialist Technician in Immigration
Higher Technician in Social Integration
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