Spain is now the EU country with the most asylum seekers, surpassing Germany, which previously held the record. During the month of May, we have received a total of 12,788 requests, a number that places us ahead of Italy, where 12,266 have been submitted, France with 11,868, Germany with 9,916, and Greece with 3,722.
The figures have been provided to EL MUNDO by sources from the EU Asylum Agency in an advance of the report that will be officially published this Friday. This agency, based in Malta, has recorded 64,000 requests from all over Europe throughout May and has observed a decrease compared to the same period in 2024 due to a "extremely abrupt" decline in the number of Syrian citizens following the fall of Assad's regime last December. In all of 2024, Spain received 167,366 requests for international protection, fewer than Germany.
As reported by the Financial Times on Thursday, if in October there were 16,000 Syrian requests in the EU, this May only 3,100 have been registered. In Germany, a popular destination among applicants of this nationality, the total number of requests has decreased from the 18,700 in May 2024 to 9,916 this May. And in Spain, now the main host country for asylum seekers, there has been a decrease from 16,300 requests in May 2024 to 12,788 in May 2025. Although the total number has decreased, requests from people fleeing the political and economic crisis in Venezuela have increased. Therefore, it is the increase in Venezuelan migration that has boosted the numbers.
However, a recent report from the Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (Cear) shows that Spain is also the EU country that grants the least asylum, as only 18% of those who apply receive national protection, the lowest rate among all countries, where the average recognition rate is 46%. Nevertheless, out of the 33,458 asylum cases resolved in Spain in 2024 for citizens from Venezuela, 98% received temporary residence authorization for humanitarian reasons, allowing them to live and work in our country for a year, although it is not strictly a form of international protection.
Spain has never had as much population as it does now. We are already at 49,153,849 inhabitants, a record number. Of these, 6,947,711 are foreigners, according to the latest figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE), which show that while Spaniards are barely increasing due to falling birth rates and increased life expectancy, immigrants have increased by 5.39% from one year to the next. Around 500,000 foreigners arrive each year. The phenomenon is only comparable to the migratory wave that occurred in the 2000s, fueled by the real estate bubble. The economic crisis of 2008 and later the Covid pandemic slowed arrivals, which have intensified since 2022.
The INE reflects that the main nationalities of immigrants during the first quarter of 2025 were Colombian (with 39,800 arrivals in Spain), Moroccan (25,900), and Venezuelan (25,000). According to a study by Funcas, in 2024, Spain was the main European destination for applicants from Latin America, especially from Venezuela (40% of requests in Spain), Colombia (24%), and to a lesser extent, Peru (6%). The 65,000 requests from Venezuelans and the 40,000 from Colombians represented 90% and 79%, respectively, of the total requests from these nationalities in the EU.
Beyond Latin America, Spain also established itself last year as a key destination for asylum seekers from some countries in West Africa. Cases from Mali and Senegal stand out. Although they still represent a small percentage of total requests in Spain - 6% for Mali and 5% for Senegal - since 2023, their numbers have multiplied by 8.5 and 3.5, respectively, indicating a possible emerging trend.