The acting Ombudsman of Spain, Francisco Fernández Marugán, has appeared today in the Senate before the Commission of Ibero-American Affairs to analyze the Latin American migratory process in Spain following the evolution of the economic cycle.
Fernández Marugán has ensured that with the arrival of Ibero-American migrants, a greater economic growth was achieved. In the opinion of the Ombudsman, before the 2009 crisis, “immigration and unemployment were compatible, unemployment was reduced and immigration increased” but when it broke “immigration reduced the pace of their arrivals.” The Ombudsman has indicated that the crisis punished these people with “harshness”.
In his appearance, he also referred to the great integration of this group in Spanish society. Thus, he stressed that in 2015 one in four foreigners who lived together as a couple did so with a Spaniard and that one in three resided in their own homes.
Fernández Marugán has ensured that it is “a population incorporated into the labor market, school life, multiple social organizations, and that is part of our plurality and our diversity.” For the Ombudsman “it is essential to think of immigrants as a stable part of our population”.
During his speech he also stressed that the decrease in the number of immigrants in Spain is not only due to voluntary returns, “there is something else, a considerable number of foreigners who have acquired Spanish nationality,” he said.
Civil registration
The Law of the Civil Registry of 2011 tried to apply to this service new organizational and management techniques to achieve a more agile and efficient processing of the files. However, the entry into force of this rule is delayed again and again, being scheduled for June of this year.
The Ombudsman explained that this situation of provisionality affects all citizens in general who have to use the services of the civil registries for the registration of births, deaths, marriages, etc.; and, in a very special way, to the hundreds of thousands of foreign citizens who, after years residing legally in Spain, request the acquisition of Spanish nationality.
Fernández Marugán indicated that the complaints that come to the Institution are basically related to the claim to acquire Spanish nationality by residence. In 2017, 893 complaints regarding the civil registry were received.
The Ombudsman considers that the time has come to evaluate the economic cost of successive management assignments and explore other forms of action that reduce the delay that foreign citizens have to endure, after long years of residence in our country, apply for Spanish nationality.
Venezuelan citizens
Fernández Marugán has made a special reference to Venezuelan citizens residing in Spain by offering information about their situation. Thus, it has pointed out that at December 31, 2017, 45.869 Venezuelans were legally resident in Spain.
On the other hand, 10.350 citizens of this nationality applied for asylum in 2017, compared to the 3.960 who requested it in 2016. For the Ombudsman, it is striking that in spite of the notable increase in asylum requests, in 2017 only 15 Venezuelan citizens obtained refugee status and not one was granted subsidiary protection.
The Ombudsman also wanted to record the problem of the group of Venezuelan pensioners residing in Spain, in a situation of serious economic precariousness and risk of social exclusion, for the Venezuelan government having suspended the income from their pensions since January 2016.
Fernández Marugán made three recommendations in November 2017 to the Secretary of State for Social Security to try to resolve the situation of these people who were rejected. Therefore, in January 2018 he sent his recommendations to the Minister of Employment to prevent this group from continuing in a situation of extreme vulnerability, with income that prevents them from covering their basic needs.
