Spanish families open their doors to Syrian refugees

THE European quota for Syrian refugees in Spain has been at least equalled by the number of Spanish families offering to provide housing for Syrians, according to reports on Tuesday, October 13.

European quotas came into place following the refugee crisis in Syria and Spain’s allotted number is 17,000. 

NGOs have praised the response in Spain as the number of Spanish people who have volunteered to take in refugees covers the 17,000.

Charities and organisations around the country have received offers from local residents willing to help. The Asturian Family Network has collected names of 1,200 volunteer families in the area who are looking to assist and most of those can house a refugee.

In Valencia, the city hall set up a webpage to register support and among the 1,000 volunteers there are 200 people offering accommodation.

The main NGOs in Spain assisting refugees are CEAR, The Spanish Red Cross and Aceem. The Red Cross has so far received 500 offers of private accommodation. Aceem maintains a strong online presence with up-to-date information on volunteer networks.

Reports from CEAR in the Basque Country indicate a willingness from residents there to offer apartments, rooms, clothes and other necessities to refugees. They say that hotels have been cooperating too by making beds available.