The mayor of Figueres, Jordi Masquef, has denounced the arrival this Wednesday of 30 asylum seekers to the city without the City Council receiving prior information. The group is housed in the Travé hotel within the state asylum and international protection program, a measure that, in the opinion of the council, is being managed without coordination with the local administration.
Masquef maintains that at this moment there are between 60 and 80 asylum seekers housed in that same establishment in Figueres. The mayor also assures that the Travé hotel has become the nerve center of reception in the city.
"It is a situation of total helplessness as a City Council and as a city, yesterday we learned of the arrival of 30 people and we are angry because we did not receive any type of information" - Jordi Masquef, mayor of Figueres
The City Council demands more transparency
The mayor has demanded more transparency regarding the arrival of asylum seekers in Figueres and has accused the State of distributing them discretionally and without a clear roadmap. In his criticism, he pointed out that the city is once again among the municipalities that assume these referrals without having prior official information.
"Obviously, we are angry because we do not receive any type of information and there is no transparency about the people arriving in the city" - Jordi Masquef, mayor of Figueres
"What cannot be is that the Ministry goes distributing these people basically in the usual municipalities, one of which is Figueres, and goes leaving them by the hand of God" - Jordi Masquef, mayor of Figueres
Masquef has insisted that the council does not receive communications through official channels and has described the situation as a policy of accomplished facts. In his view, collaboration between administrations and institutional respect would require prior coordination before new arrivals.
Pressure on municipal services
The mayor has also linked this situation with the pressure that, he states, local public services endure. According to what he explained, some of the asylum seekers have been in Figueres for months and have asked to register, a procedure that gives access to municipal resources and benefits.
"This entails further straining social services, housing resources, and many other resources that are obtained from the census" - Jordi Masquef, mayor of Figueres
In this context, he argues that the city cannot take on more pressure because its services are already very strained. The mayor has demanded more funding to be able to meet social demand and has warned that the City Council is not in a position to offer more supplementary services without economic reinforcement.
"Without more resources, we can no longer provide any type of supplementary service, not even to local people" - Jordi Masquef, mayor of Figueres
As a way out, Masquef has asked for more transparency, a clearer roadmap and more funding. At the same time, he has wanted to distance himself from any exclusionary approach and has stressed that he does not want to fall into populisms or into hate speeches, although he does demand changes in the management of arrivals in Figueres.