legal and social conditions for asylum seekers and refugees in ...

During the interview, applicants have the right to be assisted by an interpreter. Legal counselling
is also possible and is provided free of charge if the applicant has no personal means.
Once the asylum seeker has formally lodged his/her application and has been interviewed, the
case is transferred the OAR. The OAR prepares a report, and if it considers that the application
should be rejected as inadmissible, this is forwarded to the Ministry of Interior together with a
proposal for a rejection on inadmissibility grounds. In practice, the Minister adopts all proposals
submitted by the OAR without examining the cases.
The application can only be declared inadmissible if any of the circumstances and conditions
stated in Section 5(6) of the Asylum Act are clearly and undoubtedly established. These
circumstances are listed below under “Admissibility procedure within the country”.
The decision on admissibility must be reached and communicated to the applicant within 72
hours. If the application is declared inadmissible, the claimant may apply for a review of the
decision by the Minister of Interior within 24 hours. The decision on the administrative review
must then be communicated to the applicant within the next 48 hours. If the authorities do not
meet these deadlines, the application is automatically deemed admissible and the asylum seeker
allowed to enter the country and to remain there during the ordinary determination procedure.
The UNHCR representative in Spain must be informed of all individual asylum claims submitted
at border points as well as of all applications for administrative review against negative decisions
under the border procedure, in order for him/her to give a reasoned opinion on the cases.
UNHCR is also able to interview the applicant, although in practice this rarely happens.
UNHCR's opinion is not binding on the authorities. However, if UNHCR disagrees with a decision
of inadmissibility taken by the Minister of Interior, the applicant is allowed to enter the country in
order to lodge an appeal to the National High Court (“Audiencia Nacional”) against the negative
decision. Such an appeal does not automatically have suspensive effect, however this can be
requested from the Court and no removal will take place until the Court has decided to grant or
refuse suspensive effect.
If UNHCR agrees with the Minister of Interior’s negative decision, the applicant is able, in theory,
to lodge an appeal, although he/she can be returned immediately, without even waiting for the
Court to make a decision on suspension.
According to Section 5(7) of the Asylum Act, border applicants must remain at adequate airport
premises until a decision on the admissibility of their claim has been made. In practice, such
premises only exist at the main international airports, i.e. in Madrid, Barcelona and Las Palmas
de Gran Canaria. Stowaways on ships who apply for asylum are normally held in custody on
board. If the vessel leaves Spanish waters before a final decision on admissibility has been
made, the asylum seekers are allowed to land and are assigned a place to stay with the
obligation to report daily at the nearest Police station. The Spanish authorities have entered an
agreement with the Spanish Red Cross for the provision of social assistance to asylum seekers
held at border points.
The Dublin Convention
The Dublin Convention has been in force in Spain since 1 September 1997. One of the
circumstances that may lead to the inadmissibility of an application for asylum is the fact that
Spain is not responsible for processing it in accordance with provisions of the Dublin Convention.
However, since the Asylum Act provides for the possibility of holding an applicant at the border
for a maximum of six days only, asylum seekers whose claims are considered to fall under the
provisions of the Dublin Convention are usually allowed entry into the territory while awaiting for
the requested EU Member State to accept or reject its responsibility.
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Spain