The workload in Social Services departments has soared in almost all municipalities, including medium-sized and smaller ones, following the extraordinary regularization of migrants. Organization is vital to properly assist all individuals seeking regularization, but councils acknowledge that time and bureaucracy often do not align.
Queues of people wishing to apply for regularization were forming before dawn at the doors of some municipal offices. Many councils report that the entire process has been offloaded onto them. An example is Torrevieja, where by 6 AM, groups of people were already waiting to request their census registration, and an endless queue of up to 400 people formed outside the PROP office to request vulnerability certificates.
In Foios (Horta Nord), with fewer than 9,000 inhabitants and a 7% migrant population, staff were attempting to explain information in groups. The department, with fifteen staff members and four assistants, is requesting additional resources, including at least one more social worker and an administrative assistant. In Burjassot (Horta Nord), a shock plan is being designed to process initial applications, and staff has been reinforced. Starting next week, pre-scheduled appointments will be activated to guide and certify documentation, which will entail a "tremendous effort" and require doubling shifts and reassigning personnel from other departments.
“"Something so important and transcendental for so many people should have been done differently."
The València City Council has been receiving migrants accumulating at the doors of its offices. Mayor María José Catalá noted that applications are also coming from people arriving from other municipalities, as their local councils reportedly told them they "do not perform special census registrations." Catalá described the process as "a real mess" and an "outrage" against municipalities, as it has burdened them with people wandering "without information and without properly understanding the process."
The Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, has urged municipalities and all public administrations nationwide to "scale up the service for adequate care of individuals." She acknowledged that the initial days would be marked by "more confusion" but insisted that the administrations' role is to "scale up attention" to ensure proper service.
Meanwhile, Compromís per Castelló has criticized the local government's "lack of foresight" regarding the process, following "long queues" recorded in the capital of La Plana. They demand that the city council allocate all necessary human and material resources to ensure "dignified and agile" assistance, and they denounce that the municipal executive has called urgent meetings and is attempting to reorganize the system "due to the collapse and difficulties in providing care."
