Beyond the asylum-applications growth. The limits of the Spanish refugee reception program

Abstract

Based on two extended qualitative research projects conducted between 2017 and 2022, this paper analyses the refugee reception programme (RP) in Spain, which is managed both by the central state and some specialised social organisations. This cross-sectoral RP presents notable and enduring problems, which have deepened since the increase in asylum applications during the so-called European refugee crisis in 2015. This paper affirms that, although this increase in asylum seekers represents a serious challenge, the persistent shortcomings of the RP are better explained by a set of structural factors related to (1) the restrictive institutional model of asylum and immigration policy, (2) the lack of development of the RP, its dispersal policy and its social intervention design, (3) the lack of multilevel governance between the State and the municipalities and regional administration and (4) the current neoliberal and nativist policies.