Omar Razzini – Barcelona Office
Many migrants in Spain are experiencing increasing difficulties in completing their daily transactions. Many confirm that obtaining the simplest services has become conditional on resorting to informal brokers in exchange for exorbitant sums of money.
Citizens point out that job opportunities are often linked to personal connections, while official appointments for administrative procedures, such as residency fingerprints, can take many months, prompting some to resort to brokers in exchange for money.
Those seeking housing also face additional challenges, as many landlords demand high financial guarantees, sometimes reaching one thousand euros or more, in addition to the costs of brokers who have become a semi-mandatory link between the owner and the tenant.
The matter is not limited to housing but extends to the issuance of official documents such as the certificate of residence (empadronamiento). Migrants confirm that some of them have been forced to pay additional amounts to brokers and even to apartment owners to obtain this essential document.
Human rights activists warn that these practices increase the vulnerability of migrants, calling on the Spanish authorities to intervene to curb the exploitation of the needs of this group and ensure their fair access to basic services.
