Spain exceeds 200,000 temporary protections granted to Ukrainian citizens

Spain has granted temporary protection to more than 200,000 Ukrainian citizens since this extraordinary protection mechanism was activated on March 9, 2022, which immediately grants residence and work permits to those displaced by the Russian invasion.

Until February 26, the Office of Asylum and Refuge (OAR) of the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police have processed and granted a total of 200,154 protections. 61.1 percent of the people who have obtained this figure in Spain are women (122,400) and 38.9 percent are men (77,754). By age group, 31.3 percent are under 18 years old; 26.6 percent, between 19 and 35 years old; 35.4 percent, between 36 and 64; and 6.7 percent are over 65 years old.

Furthermore, the majority of people who have obtained temporary protection, 98 percent, are citizens of Ukrainian nationality, while the remaining 2 percent correspond to citizens of other nationalities who were legally residing in Ukrainian territory when the war broke out.

Comunitat Valenciana (55,835), Catalonia (45,150), Andalusia (29,588) and Madrid (28,087) are the autonomous communities in which the most temporary protections have been processed and granted.

Extension of foreign identity cards

This Tuesday, the Ministry of the Interior has also extended for another year, until March 4, 2025, the foreigner identity cards (TIE) issued to Ukrainians beneficiaries of temporary protection and whose validity expired on March 4. The order, signed by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE).

For reasons “of effectiveness and efficiency”, as clarified in the text of the ministerial order published today, instead of proceeding to issue new TIEs, the Ministry of the Interior extends the validity of the cards already delivered for another year and it will not be necessary get a new document. The extension also responds to the extension of temporary protection until March 4, 2025, agreed by the EU Council of Interior Ministers on October 19.

First activation of the European Directive

On March 9, 2022, the ministries of the Interior and Inclusion, Social Security and Migration signed the order that developed the emergency procedure for the recognition of temporary protection for citizens from Ukraine. With this procedure, Spain complied with the agreement reached on March 4, 2022 by the Council of Interior Ministers of the European Union to activate, for the first time in history, the European Temporary Protection Directive.

The mechanism activated by the Office of Asylum and Refuge (OAR) of the Ministry of the Interior allows temporary protection to be granted quickly and easily. The procedure begins in the National Police stations spread throughout the national territory and in the authorised reception centres, where National Police officials, supported by interpreters, are in charge of taking the identification data of Ukrainian citizens.

All temporary protections processed entail a residence permit and, for those of legal age, a work permit. Furthermore, under the provisions of the General Directorate of Traffic, displaced persons who obtain temporary protection can legally use their driving licences.

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