Government distributes 1.75 million euros among regional governments for resettlement and relocation of refugees

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The acting Vice-President of the Government, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, explained that the distribution of 1.75 million euros under the European Union Programme to resettle and relocate refugees will be carried out by attending to the number of people seeking international protection in each region in 2015, which is reflected in the data base of the National Health System healthcare card. "The results of this are units for distribution that have been weighted by taking into account the degree of vulnerability and the need for healthcare services of these people", she stated.

The determination of the amounts was agreed at the Plenary session of the Inter-regional Council of the National Health System on 13 April 2016.

Asylum-seekers in Spain are entitled to healthcare and the aim of this economic allocation is to "contribute to financing part of the additional healthcare bill originating from providing healthcare to refugees", highlighted Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría. These people have specific needs, such as the use of interpreters and mediators.

Report on relocation and resettlement process

Pool Moncloa/J.M.CuadradoThe Council of Ministers analysed a report on the development of the process to relocate and resettle refugees within the framework of the European Union procedure.

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría pointed out that by 29 June, more than 9,000 applications for international asylum with direct entry to Spanish territory had been received. "This is a fourfold rise on the number of applications in previous years and Spain is the fifth-placed European Union country in terms of the increase in applications for international asylum".

Furthermore, the Vice-President of the Government reported that, by 8 July, Spain had taken in a total of 305 refugees between relocations from Greece and Italy and resettlements from Lebanon and Turkey, in addition to two cases of asylum on extraordinary humanitarian grounds.

As regards forthcoming arrivals, the Government Spokesperson announced that 10 people are due to arrive from Italy to complete the quota of 50 refugees initially notified, and another 199 to be resettled from Lebanon at the end of July.

Project for voluntary return to Mauritania

The government authorised Spain's voluntary contribution of 50,000 euros to the pilot project on assisted voluntary return to Mauritania, coordinated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The programme is aimed at 60 illegal immigrants identified as being in a situation of vulnerability. Spain's contribution will go to pay for plane tickets for the beneficiaries.

The Vice-President of the Government asserted that "return is one of the priorities of the policy on the fight against illegal immigration in Spain and in the European Union as a whole". In this regard, she pointed out that work has been carried out on programmes to organise the voluntary return of Sub-Saharan immigrants who are illegally in African countries of transit and are in a situation of vulnerability. Their goal is to cover the cost of their return to their country of origin and offer them alternatives for their reintegration, which include micro-loans and small business projects.

Institutional advertising and communication

Pool Moncloa/J.M.CuadradoThe Council of Ministers approved the Annual report on institutional advertising and communication for 2015, which will be submitted to Parliament and made available to the sector associations and citizens on the webpage www.lamoncloa.gob.es.

The report contains extensive information on the 54 institutional campaigns carried out by ministerial departments, bodies and institutions in the State public sector during 2015, specifying costs, communication tools used and the award of contracts, pointed out the Vice-President of the Government.

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría highlighted that 84% of the investment in advertising went on campaigns to promote healthy and safe habits for citizens and care for the environment, such as road safety, energy savings, food safety and the labelling of foodstuffs, the prevention of AIDS, health schools, the hydrological plan, responsible water consumption, the protection of rivers and the prevention of fires. This investment was also aimed at promoting human rights and duties of citizens on such issues as gender-based violence, taxation, the Foreign Service, recommendations on Erasmus, cooperation, neighbourliness and the recognition of the armed forces, the Transparency Act and elections, among others.

Other agreements

The government authorised the National Institute for Agricultural and Food Research and Technology (Spanish acronym: INIA), a body under the umbrella of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Competition, to modify the limits for taking on spending commitments for future years in order to enable researchers with PhDs to be hired.
The government also closed partnership agreements with various regional governments to prepare the collective catalogue on bibliographic heritage. This is a system to locate, catalogue and gather data on existing works in public and private libraries in each autonomous region which, due to their age, singular nature or special characteristics of their copies, may be considered to form part of our historical heritage in order to protect them and expand their use.

Current affairs

Pool Moncloa/J.M.CuadradoWhen asked about the possibility of the murder of five police officers in Dallas (Texas) modifying the visit by the President of the United States, Barack Obama, to Spain starting on Saturday, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría began by expressing the condolences of the government to the families of the victims and its solidarity with the people of the United States. She also highlighted its support "for a society with which we share the need to combat violence and in favour of equality".

The Vice-President of the Government pointed out that "no communication" had been received from the United States "to alter the pre-existing travel plans of Barack Obama to Spain.

As regards the decision by the European Commission to initiate sanction proceedings against Spain for its public deficit, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría stressed that the government remains confident that "this sanction will not be in the form of a fine", for reasons "of common sense". The Vice-President of the Government recalled that Spain has halved its public deficit both during the initial phase of economic recession and then in the subsequent period of growth. "We have made a great effort and I believe that this will be taken into account".

The Government Spokesperson added that, at any event, once the final decision by the European institutions is announced, the government will lodge its pleas "immediately".

In relation to the ruling handed down by the Constitutional Court to annul the creation of State structures by the Regional Government of Catalonia, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría declared the government's "satisfaction" at the fact that, when it appealed to the court, it had "constitutional justification". According to the Vice-President of the Government, "in the rulings, and this is very clear, you have to look at the main issue: what the Constitutional Court unanimously expressed is that State structures correspond exclusively to one body, to the State".

She also asserted that the Regional Government of Catalonia, before trying to operate with a State structure, "which is not and cannot be within our constitutional order", should review the broad powers "that it does have and exercise them much better".