Programmes

The Directorate of Immigrant Care and Support Services provides specific programmes for promoting intercultural relations and as a response to the humanitarian refugee crisis.

 

 

BCN Interculturality Programme

In the context of a culturally diverse city, the programme aims to make this diversity known and to create and promote spaces for dialogue and intercultural relations. It also strives to raise awareness among citizens, dispel rumours and discriminatory stereotypes, and generate opportunities for developing shared intercultural actions and projects.

Barcelona, refuge city

Every day thousands of people flee their homes in search of safety, and many arrive in Europe seeking protection. In September 2015, City Council launched the "Barcelona, refuge city" programme to prepare the city to welcome and support refugees, provide them with necessary services and guarantee their rights, while demanding that state governments comply with the most basic human rights.

Networks

The immigrant care  in Barcelona is made through networking between the City Council and a series of services and entities from the city.

BARCELONA'S RECEPTION AND SUPPORT NETWORK

Barcelona’s Reception and Support Network is made up of over a hundred non-profit organisations which provide information and advice to newcomers, with the aim of promoting personal autonomy and social inclusion.

The Reception and Support Network consists of two active working groups: the XESAJE - Network of Social Organisations Providing Legal Advice for Immigrants - and the Language Coordinator.

The Reception and Support Network organisations provide various kinds of services to immigrants: reception services, language courses, legal and/or employment advice, guidance services and help regarding housing, social care, shelter apartments, specific services for women, informal education and specific health services.

You can filter your search to suit your needs in the organisation search engine

NETWORK OF SOCIAL ORGANISATIONS FOR LEGAL ADVICE TO FOREIGNERS AND IMMIGRANTS

The Network of Social Organisations for Legal Advice to Foreigners and Immigrants (XESAJE) was promoted by the Directorate for the Immigration and Interculturality Programme of Barcelona City Council at the end of the year 2007. The network is comprised of third-sector organisations that provide professional legal advice in the city of Barcelona. More than 50 organisations are part of this network at present. They work together with trade unions, the Barcelona Bar Association and the Care Service for Immigrants, Emigrants and Refugees (SAIER) to provide quality service free of charge to people in need of support with immigration procedures

The network is now a consolidated reference point for sharing knowledge among agents who provide legal advice free of charge in the city. It has also become a platform for coordination and representation of legal services provided by third-sector organisations in Barcelona. The network also provides publications and dissemination of information materials concerning changes in immigration regulations. Finally, meetings are held with institutions with authority in immigration issues, such as the Government Sub-Delegation in Barcelona or the Employment Department at the Generalitat de Catalunya, in order to ensure a channel for communication regarding updated information on issues relevant to both administrations and users.

This working group has the following objectives:

  • Sharing knowledge among agents who provide legal advice free of charge in the city.

  • Building a network that represents legal services provided by third-sector organisations in the city of Barcelona.

  • Ensuring coordination between members.

  • Engaging agents in the development of materials and projects.

  • Dissemination of existing materials as well as those with information about changes in the laws and regulations, and so on.

  • Inviting external agents: reference institutions and experts in immigration issues.

An updated list of XESAJE organisations can be found in the browser for Reception Network organisations.

THE CITY'S LANGUAGE COORDINATOR

This working group is part of the Reception and Support Network for Immigrants and it brings together associations, organisations and institutions that work towards the linguistic integration of the foreign immigrant population in the City of Barcelona.

They form a network that shares experiences and materials in the area of language teaching, and they aim to become a forum for analysis and research into language-related teaching needs.

Goals

  • To adapt the availability of Catalan and Spanish teaching to the current situation, in order to guarantee foreign immigrants the right to equal opportunities and facilitate their integration into the city.

  • To ensure that immigrants have knowledge of and use the Catalan language.

  • To coordinate the work of the various organisations in order to optimise their efforts, expand and improve resources, complement the services they offer, unify methodologies and share, design or improve teaching materials adapted to foreign immigrants.

  • To ensure training and recycling for teaching staff and volunteers, in order to offer rigorous, standardised teaching, which complies with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

The Coordinator holds periodic meetings to discuss problems relating to language learning, with the aim of sharing resources among all the member organisations.

The Coordinator creates working committees according to its needs, to meet its objectives.

The Coordinator is open to the participation of new organisations whose objectives are aligned with its own.

The current list of the Reception Network's organisations and services that offer resources for learning Catalan and Spanish can be found on the Reception Network's organisation search engine.

Learning materials