State Secretary for Security and Secretary-General for Immigration and Emigration welcome first 20 refugees arriving from Greece

At Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport on Tuesday morning, the State Secretary for Security, Francisco Martínez, and the Secretary-General for Immigration and Emigration, Marina del Corral, welcomed 20 of the 150 refugees from Greece that will be relocated in Spain under the EU programme set up to tackle the humanitarian consequences of the war in Syria.

The arrival of these 20 people represents firm support from the Ministry of Home Affairs to the refugee reception process (launched in late 2015 with the arrival of 18 from Italy) that will eventually see 586 refugees arrive in Spain by the end of June (200 via relocation from Greece and Italy, and 386 via resettlement from Lebanon and Turkey).
As a first step towards receiving these 586 people, four refugee transfers will take place between now and 1 June: three from Greece (amounting to 84 people) and one from Italy (27 people), which will lead to the reception of a total of 111 asylum-seekers in nine days. 52 of them are of Syrian nationality, 31 of Iraqi nationality, 26 of Eritrean nationality and two of Central African Republic nationality.

The first group of 13 Syrian and seven Iraqi refugees from Greece arrived in Madrid on Tuesday morning on a flight from Athens. 10 of them will be relocated in the province of Barcelona (Catalonia), nine in the province of Zaragoza (Aragon) and one in the province of Seville (Andalusia). These 20 people comprise eight family groups, consisting of a total of seven men, five women and eight children. On stepping foot on Spanish soil, each was given the corresponding document of authorisation to enter Spanish territory. They were then transferred to the towns where they will be settled.

The second transfer of refugees from Greece is scheduled to take place on 30 May. The 45 asylum-seekers will be received in Alava (3), Asturias (7), the Balearic Islands (8), Guadalajara (2), Guipuzcoa (6), Madrid (13) and Valladolid (6). This total comprises 21 family groups, consisting of a total of 22 men, eight women and 15 children. 25 of those transferred are of Syrian nationality, while 19 are of Iraqi nationality and one is from the Central African Republic.

The third group of refugees will arrive from Greece on 1 June, consisting of 19 asylum-seekers. Five of them will be sent to Salamanca and 14 to Navarre. This group comprises eight family groups, consisting of a total of eight men, five women and six children. The majority (14) are of Syrian nationality, with five coming from Iraq.

Refugees from Italy

While 150 people will be received from Greece under the EU relocation programme, a further 50 asylum-seekers will be received by Spain from Italy (18 were transferred at the end of 2015). The second group from Italy will arrive in Madrid on 25 May. These 27 people will be sent to Guipuzcoa (9), Madrid (6) and Tarragona (12), consisting of 26 men and one woman, with 26 coming from Eritrea and one from the Central African Republic.

With these refugee transfers, Spain becomes the European country relocating the fourth-largest number of refugees from Greece and Italy under the EU relocation programme. Spain is currently assuming 11.8% of the 1,683 relocations carried out to date by the European countries forming part of the relocation programme.
In terms of resettlements, Spain - which will receive a total of 386 refugees (285 from Lebanon and 101 from Turkey) - is the European country receiving the fifth-highest number of refugees, accounting for 6.1% of the total 6,321 resettlements carried out in Europe to date.