Eduardo González
Spain was in 2024 the second recipient of international protection from the European Union, with 167,366 applications, 2.5 percent more than the previous year. Venezuela, with more than 66,000 applications, leads the requests for international protection, ahead of Colombia, with more than 40,000. In addition, last year temporary protection was granted to 36,734 people, which brings to more than 231,000 the number of Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion who have been protected by this figure in Spain.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, the Asylum and Refuge Office (OAR), which is part of the General Directorate of International Protection, resolved a total of 96,251 international protection applications in 2024. This figure represents an increase of 4.2 percent compared to the previous year and is the highest since the creation of the office in 1992, except for 2020, which marked the maximum due to the exceptional situation of the pandemic.
During 2024, Spain has received a total of 167,366 applications for international protection, according to provisional data closed on December 31. This is 2.5 percent more than in the previous year and the highest number in the history of the OAR. Spain thus ranks as the second recipient country of international protection in the European Union, only behind Germany.
By nationality, the country of origin with the most applicants in Spain throughout 2024, according to OAR data, was Venezuela, with 66,134 requests, 39.5 percent of the total, followed by Colombia (40,140). Both countries account for 63.5 percent of the files formalized in 2024. They are followed, by number of applications, by Mali (10,673), Peru (10,427) and Senegal (7,708). The first five nationalities account for 80.7 percent of the total files registered.
By place of submission, the Community of Madrid heads the list of autonomous communities with the most applications (47,439), ahead of Andalusia (25,538) and Catalonia (17,488).
In addition, 6,355 refugee statuses were granted in 2024. The top five nationalities of people who received the status are Nicaragua, Syria, Afghanistan, Colombia and Honduras. Also, throughout the year, subsidiary protection was processed for 11,453 people, 200 percent higher than the resolutions signed last year, and the maximum number of subsidiary protections granted in Spain. A total of 33,534 citizens, mostly Venezuelans, also received authorization to reside for humanitarian reasons for one year.
According to these data, the rate of recognition of refugee status and subsidiary protection has stood at 18.5 percent, six points above 2023, and the international protection rate has reached 53.3 percent.
Temporary protection for Ukrainians and statelessness
In addition, the General Directorate of International Protection granted temporary protection to 36,734 people in 2024 (8.3 percent more than those granted in 2023), which brings the number of citizens displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine who have been protected by this figure in Spain to more than 231,000.
The Spanish Government launched this urgent procedure in March 2022 and delivered the first granting resolution on March 11, in compliance with the European Union agreement authorizing, for the first time, the application of the Temporary Protection Directive.
Furthermore, in 2024, 2,084 applications were submitted for recognition of stateless status, which represents 86.4 percent more applications submitted than in 2023, which consolidates an upward trend. 911 files have been resolved. Statelessness is a procedure aimed at identifying among applicants persons who are not considered as nationals by any State, according to its legislation, and who claim to lack nationality, as provided for in the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, held in New York on September 28, 1954.
