The Ministry of the Interior has registered, processed and granted a total of 5,830 temporary protections to people displaced by the war in Ukraine who have sought refuge in our country in the first week following the activation, on 10 March, of the emergency procedure for refugees. These figures were recorded at the close of business on Thursday 17 March.

Of these 5,830 protections, 2,416 have been processed in the reception and reception centres in Pozuelo de Alarcón and Alicante, while 3,414 have been registered and resolved in the 54 National Police stations that have been set up for these procedures throughout Spain. All the protections entail a residence permit and, for those of legal age, a work permit.

These figures were announced by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, during his visit this Friday to the mechanism deployed by the National Police and the Asylum and Refuge Office (OAR) at the Reception and Reception Centre located in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid). The minister has guaranteed that all the necessary human and material resources will continue to be allocated to register, process and resolve the requests.

“Spain has given a great example of institutional coordination, solidarity and agility to respond with the efficiency and speed that a humanitarian emergency of this nature demanded and that the Ukrainian population deserved,” the minister said.

Grande-Marlaska thanked the National Police officers and the officials of the OAR for “the extraordinary work of these days” and for all the effort and dedication that is allowing temporary protection to be granted within a maximum period of 24 hours.

At the reception centres in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid) and Ciudad, twenty-five national police officers from the Aliens and Scientific Police stations and a team from the OAR work from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. to register and process the requests for temporary protection of those displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Since it opened on 10 March, it has processed 1,603 applications.

In addition to this centre, applications for international protection can be submitted at the reception centres set up in Barcelona and Alicante, and at the Aliens offices of the Provincial Police Stations in all provincial capitals, as well as at the police stations in Algeciras, Gijón and Vigo.

Madrid (1,603), Valencia (918), Andalusia (827) and Catalonia (474) are the autonomous communities that receive the most applications, as can be seen in the attached document.

First activation of temporary protection
On 9 March, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, signed the order implementing the emergency procedure for the recognition of temporary protection. This order was decreed in compliance with the agreement reached on 4 March by the Council of Interior Ministers of the European Union, which agreed for the first time in history to apply the Temporary Protection Directive.

By virtue of this regulation, applicants can go to these authorised points where National Police officers take their identification data and other elements, a procedure for which language interpreters are available, and where they are issued with a receipt accrediting their request for protection, which also includes an assigned NIE.

The application is processed by the Asylum and Refuge Office of the Ministry of the Interior and is resolved within 24 hours. The decision includes a residence permit and, in the case of adult applicants, a work permit. The decision is notified to the applicant electronically whenever possible, by post or by personal appearance at police stations or foreigners’ offices.