Thousands of people participated in a protest in Madrid, demanding the Spanish government to fulfill its obligations on providing shelter to refugees, local media reported.
According to the Madrid Press media outlet, the protest, organized by numerous non-government organizations and social groups, including Amnesty International and Comision Espanola de Ayuda al Refugiado (Spanish Committee for Refugee Aid), took place on Saturday evening.
The activists were holding banners with slogans reading “Enough excuses, no more barriers,” “No one is illegal,” and “We want to welcome them now!” among others.
The mandatory EU scheme was established in 2015 and is aimed at relocating some refugees currently held in Greece and Italy to be allocated throughout the bloc with a specific quota for each member state.
Spain pledged to accept 17,337 people, however it relocated or resettled only 1,304 refugees, which is less than 10 percent of its quota.