Colombians are among those most likely to seek asylum in Spain in 2023

Citizens of Venezuela, Colombia and Peru accounted for 78% of the asylum applications registered in Spain last year by the Office of Asylum and Refugees, which totaled 163,218, an increase of 37% over the previous year and the highest number recorded since last year. The body was created in 1992.

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According to provisional data closed on December 31 and published by the Spanish Ministry of the Interior on Thursday, the Ministry's Asylum and Refugee Office received 163,218 applications for international protection in 2023, a figure that places Spain as the third country to obtain international protection in 2023. European Union.

Three Latin American countries accounted for 78.6% of registered files: Venezuela, with 60,534 applications, or 37% of the total, followed by Colombia, with 53,564 applications, and Peru, with 14,306.

In terms of reception location, the Madrid region tops the list with the largest number of applications, with 52,684, followed by Andalusia (25,948) and Catalonia (14,775).

During the past year, the Ministry of Interior settled a total of 92,963 international protection files, which represents an increase of 1.8% compared to the previous year.

7,521 refugee statuses were granted, an all-time high

In that period, 7,521 refugee status were granted, which is also a record high to date and represents 26.5% of all people granted by the Office of Asylum and Refugees since 2012.

The nationalities that were granted the largest number were the nationalities of Afghanistan, Syria, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Honduras.

In 2023, 3,850 people, mostly from Mali, were processed for secondary protection, and 41,478 citizens, mostly Venezuelans, were granted residence and work permits on humanitarian grounds.

According to these figures, the rate of recognition of refugee status and secondary protection is 12.23% and international protection is 56.85%.

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195 thousand displaced people due to the Ukraine war receive temporary protection

According to the Ministry of the Interior, its Office for Asylum and Refugees has granted temporary protection to 33,928 people in 2023, which brings to nearly 195,000 the number of citizens displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine included in this figure in Spain.

The Spanish government launched this emergency measure in March 2022, days after the outbreak of war.

Throughout this year that has just ended, 953 applications for recognition of stateless person status have also been submitted and 1,022 files related to this procedure have been resolved, with the aim of identifying people who are not considered citizens by any state and who claim to lack citizenship.

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