Thousands of Ukrainian refugees still do not receive the financial aid promised last June by the central government.
The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, announced that displaced persons with fewer resources welcomed in Spain would receive 400 euros per month per family unit, plus 100 euros per dependent child, during their six-month stay in the country.
The management of the funds was delegated to the autonomous communities and 70% of the amount was transferred to them in October.
But the bureaucracy, once again, has hampered the money reaching families.
At least eight autonomous communities still do not offer a single euro to the beneficiaries.
This March 30 is the deadline to justify the funds already received —that is, decide who the money is intended for— and, thus, opt for the remaining 30%.
This aid, intended for refugees who do not depend on the state reception system and who live, for example, with relatives or acquaintances without any other financial support, should benefit 40,000 people, of the almost 170,000 Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Spain this year. of war.
A family made up of the father, the mother and three minor children, for example, would receive 700 euros per month.
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In the head of a refugee
Among the communities that have not begun to distribute aid are those that host the most refugees in their territories, such as Madrid, Catalonia and the Valencian Community.
Together, these three regions add up to 107,000 people with temporary protection, the formula with which the EU allowed displaced persons to live and work legally almost automatically in the Member States after fleeing Ukraine.
Miguel Balaguer, a 41-year-old engineer from Alicante, who has been hosting a Ukrainian couple in his home for almost a year, has been demanding this financial aid even before it was approved.
"Even though they have the basics covered, it is important that they have a certain independence and that they themselves do not feel like a burden," he explained to EL PAÍS after a couple of months of living together.
He now complains that the situation is hopeless.
"We can't even apply for the famous help yet," he laments.
Balaguer maintains that, without his support, the young couple he lives with in his house would have had to return to Ukraine.
The aid, financed with European funds, was approved in view of the emergency situation that caused the war and the displacement of tens of thousands of people who, although they did not depend on the state reception system, were in a precarious situation due to lack of economic resources. .
One of the main difficulties that many refugees are facing in becoming financially independent is that they cannot find a job.
After a year in Spain, only 14% of the 100,000 refugees between the ages of 18 and 64 are registered with Social Security, despite having received unprecedented public and private support.
The language and the feeling of provisionality are the main obstacles.
"It cannot be that thousands of people come to Spain and they are not helped, it is not enough just to let them in," laments Balaguer.
The 52.8 million allocated to this aid, announced nine months ago by Minister Escrivá, were delivered to the communities in October.
"It was they who asked to manage it," explained the minister on Wednesday of last week.
"We would have been faster, but they insisted," he added.
Sources from the ministry showed their surprise when verifying that some territories continue without processing the aid when in others it has been done much more quickly.
EL PAÍS has consulted the 17 autonomous communities on the status of this process.
Of the 16 that responded (Canarias ignored the request), eight acknowledged that they are not delivering the funds yet.
They are Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Galicia, Madrid and Murcia.
Castilla y León has not been able to confirm if the applicants are already receiving the aid.
Each community gives a different explanation to justify the delays.
A spokesman for the Government of the Generalitat Valenciana —the region where 27% of the almost 170,000 refugees who have received temporary protection in Spain live— explains that their deadlines have been extended because the Intervention (the regional audit body) initially stopped the model adopted —that is, that it was the Red Cross that managed the aid to link it to social accompaniment— and forced to deliver it directly.
In other communities, however, it has been delegated to organizations such as the Red Cross (in Andalusia) or Cáritas (in the Basque Country).
Catalonia, which also has a high percentage of Ukrainian refugees (23%), has not delivered the aid either, although those interested have been able to request it.
The Generalitat has registered 7,000 requests between the months of December and January, some with "incorrect data" and others duplicates, according to the Ministry of Equality and Feminisms.
There were also technical issues to be resolved, such as developing a specific computer system to request help electronically, training staff or finding translators.
"All this is not done in two days," these sources maintain.
The Community of Madrid, with 2,600 applications, is not distributing the money either.
Their problems, says a spokesman for the Ministry of Social Services,
The delay in the delivery of financial aid has been one of the recurring complaints that have reached the Ombudsman in recent months.
The claims not only refer to this direct aid but also to those received by refugees, including those in the reception system, and those that have been distributed in some autonomous communities.
Given the range and lack of uniformity of financial support throughout Spain, the institution has requested clarification from the Ministry of Migration.
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