News from Spain.

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Rescue boats carrying 630 migrants refused entry in Italy begin arriving in Spain

The 630 Migrants whose rescue sparked a major migration row in Europe began disembarking in Spain, after a turbulent week that saw Italy turn away the Aquarius ship.

The first of three ships transporting the group, an Italian coast guard vessel called the Datillo, pulled into Valencia harbour just before 6:30 am with 274 migrants on board, according to the Red Cross.

Applause could be heard coming from the ship as it docked.

Medical staff wearing white overalls, gloves and masks then boarded the boat to carry out first medical checks as a police helicopter flew overhead.

The migrants, mainly from Africa, will be welcomed by a team of more than 2,000 people, including 1,000 Red Cross volunteers and 470 translators.

Smuggled ‘Aquarius migrants’ to receive 495 euros of welfare every month in Spain

The 629 migrants smuggled by the French NGO SOS Mediterranée from waters off the coast of Libya on Saturday will, once they arrive in Spain, potentially receive a monthly welfare payment of 495 euros.

The new welfare program known as ‘minimum social inclusion’ was adopted by the autonomous Valencia’s community.

To be eligible for the program, individuals must be considered to be in a “social emergency” and must register to a municipality near Valencia. No age is required to be eligible for the program.

Furthermore, individuals are not required to search for work in order to receive this payment, which is more than twice the minimum wage in Morocco, the country with the highest minimum wage in Africa (210 euros).

In addition, if beneficiaries fall ill 3 months after their arrival, they will receive a ‘universal health card’ which will grant them access to free healthcare.

I hope the welfare payment of 495 euros a month will be enough for the migrants. It is more than they get in Italy.

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This is crazy.

Spanish students forced out of their houses to make room for Aquarius migrants

Hundreds of immigrants arriving aboard the Aquarius, docked yesterday afternoon in Alicante, where their children, aged between 12 and 17-years-old will be in the custody of social workers.

Several students from the local student residence are now being forced from their lodgings despite having paid their accommodation fees so the migrants, arriving from Libya, can be housed, according to the online daily Actualidad Valdepeñas.

A young German language student in Alicante named Rubén, who is planning to live and work in Germany in his future, paid €750 a month for his room, has now been forced to leave along with the other students housed there.

His mother has stated that her son has had to leave the residence to make room for the Aquarius migrants: “They have told us that they cannot be there because they come with many illnesses, so this is a health issue”.

“It’s like we are solving one problem by causing others, and this is a big problem because right now there is nowhere in Alicante for my son to live and continue with his studies. We are going to go there to see if we can find something, but it will be very difficult since everything is already booked for the Summer months,” she explains.

Rubén’s mother does not believe that it can be due to a “health issue” otherwise the local authorities surely wouldn’t be housing hundreds of sick migrants in the centre of a busy tourist city like Alicante.

Authorities announced on Saturday 16 June that Rubén and his colleagues only had 24 hours in which to collect their belongings and vacate the residence.

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Aquarius migrants in Spain throw away towels and clothes donated by the Red Cross



On June 24th several Facebook users criticised the fact that many migrants from the Aquarius boat had thrown away clothes and towels donated to them by the Red Cross.

The clothes were found in a dumpster in Cheste’s Educational Complex, where many of the migrants have been housed until they have finalised their asylum applications.

This, despite the fact that the very first night in Spain, some migrants were spotted at a restaurant in Cheste paying for drinks using €100 bills.

Even the younger migrants, who were housed in a student residence in Alicante as we previously reported, were spotted going out to party on their first night, despite Liberal Spanish commentators stating that they were in “shock” and “traumatised” due to the crossing from Libya.

As can be seen in the photo, the containers are overflowing with rejected clothes, towels and blankets distributed by the Red Cross – some care packages are even intact and their contents are listed as “1 track suit, 1 t-shirt, 1 pair of socks, 1 underwear”.

The local residents are incensed about the absolute lack of gratitude these supposedly “stressed” immigrants demonstrate with the generosity shown by the Red Cross.