The first week of the extraordinary regularization process has pushed Catalan social services to their limit. Cities such as Barcelona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, and Badalona have been forced to restructure their care systems to manage the large number of requests. The Catalan capital has opened four new service points, while L'Hospitalet has set up the La Farga exhibition center to assist over 2,000 people daily. Meanwhile, Badalona distributes around 270 appointments each day.
“"We have 8,000 appointments until June and cannot attend to more people."
The in-person process, which began on April 20, has generated long queues from the outset. Although it is a procedure linked to Immigration, much of the documentation depends on municipalities, which are bearing considerable pressure. The delegate of the Government in Catalonia has warned about the risk of scams, emphasizing that applicants should not pay any amount for these procedures.
Among the most requested documents are the registration certificate and the social vulnerability certificate. Although they can be obtained through various channels, including online, many applicants opt for in-person processing, saturating the municipal service network. The lack of clear information on where to obtain each document pushes users from one point to another, causing confusion and frustration.
The municipal response varies by territory. The Government estimates that between 120,000 and 150,000 people could benefit from regularization across Catalonia. The Barcelona City Council has activated a reinforcement plan with four walk-in service centers. The Ibn Battuta Foundation, despite tripling its attention, has had to close its doors due to overwhelming demand, leading to moments of tension with the Mossos d'Esquadra.
In L'Hospitalet, the special operation assists nearly 2,000 people daily, and its continuity will be reviewed. In Badalona, the city council has opted for distributing appointments, with about 270 attended daily, to avoid interfering with regular citizen services. The Parliament has approved the training of over 1,200 people to reinforce services throughout the Catalan territory.
