European Commission spokesperson Mina Andreeva has announced that the European Commission will soon release emergency funding for Spain to help it deal with new arrivals of migrants, but on Wednesday 1 August was unable to state the exact amount under consideration.
The spokesperson said they were working to release the cash quite quickly. Pedro Sanchez’ government asked on Sunday to be granted €30 million from the European Fund for Asylum, Migration and Integration (EFAMI) and the European Fund for Security (EFS). On Wednesday morning, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, held talks with Sanchez, assuring him of full support and his requests being a matter of priority. The president made known on 1 August that he had asked Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos to travel to Spain over the next few days.
The Commission and its president stressed that aid for Morocco was a priority, but President Juncker stressed that resources were more limited, given the member states’ laborious financing of the Fiduciary Fund for Africa.
The Western Mediterranean route, to Spain, became the leading migration route in 2018. The latest UNHCR figures show that as of 23 July 2018, 23,993 people had arrived in Spain, three times more than at the same period of last year and ahead of Italy (18,243) and Greece (15,563). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)