16th March 2026
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75,000 Ukrainian refugees now have protection & residence permits in Spain

Click here for all our reports related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Of approximately 135,000 refugees who have arrived in Spain since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 74,965 have already been granted temporary protection, including residence and work permits – the latter, for adults.

By age, 38.44% of the cases of temporary refuge granted to displaced Ukrainians in Spain are under the age of 18 years; 23.65% are aged between 19 and 35; 31.53% aged between 36 and 64 and 6.39% to people over the age of 65. And by sex, 67.58% of temporary protection documents have been granted to displaced women, compared to 32.42% of men.

98.74% of temporary protection has been granted to refugees of Ukrainian nationality, while 1.26% has been granted to legal but non-Ukrainian national residents of Ukraine.

Temporary refuge includes a residence permit and, for adults, a work permit in all cases. In addition, under the provisions of Spain’s Directorate General of Traffic, displaced persons who obtain temporary refuge are legally entitled to use their driving licenses in Spain for at least one year.

Madrid (14,709), Catalonia (14,377), Valencia (13,155), and Andalusia (11,236) are the regions receiving the most refugees to date.

Spain has set up a dedicated portal that provides information on services, telephone numbers and addresses, and places to carry out formalities. Click here to access it in Spanish, and here in Ukrainian.

ALSO READ: Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Málaga – main reception centres for Ukrainians.

Pedro Sánchez visiting the Ukrainian refugee reception centre in Barcelona
Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez visiting the Ukrainian refugee reception centre in Barcelona on 8 April 2022. (Pool Moncloa / Borja Puig de la Bellacasa)

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