Last July, our Spanish member Nueva Vida opened a new center for migrants and asylum seekers being persecuted for reasons of sexual orientation and political opinion.

The new reception center has been built in a disused hotel in Arrigorriaga (Basque Country) within the framework of the Asylum and International Protection Program of the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

The new center is successfully meeting the needs of 24 migrants and asylum seekers for a maximum of six months. During this period, the users are provided with residential care, financial support, urgent psychosocial assistance, as well as labour migration programmes and Spanish classes.

After six months, the migrants and asylum seekers hosted in Arrigorriaga are supported by Nuova Vida to move into private housing. This is perhaps one of the most delicate stages, during which migrants and refugees are particularly vulnerable.

This phase is the most difficult. There are many prejudices. Few people rent their flats to refugees. Luckily, there are always flowers in the desert. ”

This center is the first of these characteristics that the NGO opens in the Basque Country. “In Cantabria, however, we have been involved with the migrant group for years, especially with the most vulnerable people – women and children – contributing to generate opportunities that allow them to live in dignity,” explains Julio David García Justamante, Nueva Vida Project coordinator.

To know more about the new center for migrants and refugees in Arrigorriaga, check our member’s page.