The upheaval of the geopolitical board regarding Venezuela is a good opportunity to remember that there are currently 377,809 people with Venezuelan nationality residing in Spain and more than 690,000 if we also include those with dual nationality, according to the 2025 census by the INE. Equally relevant is that of the total asylum applications in Spain, over 134,000 up to last November, more than half (78,984) had Venezuela as their country of origin. Or that the rejected asylum requests that have resulted in humanitarian residence permits (according to immigration legislation) have been granted 99.4% to Venezuelan citizens.
Figures about Venezuelans in Spain could be broken down infinitely. For now, we can only hope that the flow of immigration from the South American country continues to grow, at least in the coming months, as nothing suggests that the unbearable political, social, and economic atmosphere will dissipate in the post-Maduro Venezuela in the short term. Morocco or Colombia also feature among the countries with a significant number of asylum applications in Spain, although with a high percentage of rejections. Their citizens also do not enjoy the same good reputation in Spanish society as Venezuelans do. The events of July 2025 in Torre-Pacheco (Murcia) serve as a reminder.
Precisely, in order to increase the speed and effectiveness of asylum procedures for people from countries with little chance (on average, only 20% or less) of obtaining protection in Europe, the EU has just published the first list of safe countries of origin that includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, India, Kosovo, Morocco, and Tunisia. The list will also apply to the return of applicants whose claims are deemed "unfounded." This measure is one of the cornerstones of the Migration and Asylum Pact of 2024, which will begin to be implemented on 12 June 2026. Spain will have to adapt to this European regulation with a new Asylum Law.♦