New Migrant Detention Strategies in Spain: Short-term Assistance Centres and Internment Centres for Foreign Nationals

Abstract

Under Pedro Sánchez leadership, the Spanish Government has modified migration management in Spain, essentially in relation to arrival and reception, through the creation of new institutions for the detention of recently arrived migrants. Termed Short-Term Assistance Centres for Foreign Nationals, these new facilities have prompted a change in the role of Internment Centres for Foreign Nationals. Here, it shall be analysed the concept, creation, conditions and (non-existent) regulatory framework of these Assistance Centres and their function as regards managing migrant arrivals. I shall also explore the concomitant change in the role played by Internment Centres in migration management in Spain over the past year.