Registration in the municipal registry is an obligation for all people living in Spain, whose procedures must be facilitated by town councils. It is a right that all citizens have regardless of whether or not they have a residence permit and whether or not they have a home. A resolution of the Ministry of the Presidency of February 17, 2020 specifies how municipalities should proceed to facilitate registration for residents of substandard housing and those without homes, those who spend the night outdoors. The Sindicatura de Greuges de Barcelona has today expressed its concern about the complaints received from a social entity in the sense of the difficulties that this group encounters when it comes to formalizing the procedure to be included in the register.
Specifically, the Ombudsman indicates, according to the alert issued by more entities, that the Social and Economic Benefits Office of the Barcelona City Council, where the knowledge of residence reports (ICR) were processed, a requirement to complete the registration, is now It does not do so and refers applicants to other services, “which delays the process for several months.”
The Ombudsman explains in a statement released today that the aforementioned Office of Social and Economic Benefits has indicated to the entities that no longer issue ICRs, that applicants must go to Saier or the Social Integration Service (SIS) and make an appointment. But since there is no availability for a minimum of three months, these people are for a time without being able to access the different services that require registration in order to access them.
The version given by a municipal spokesperson contradicts these facts as it assures that the registration model has not been changed and that the Social and Economic Benefits Office continues to process the ICR, as it has always done. The same sources confirm that men and women who spend the night outdoors are registered in Social Services centers.
It should be remembered that social entities such as Arrels or the Santa Anna field hospital, among others, register people without a fixed address in their offices, as provided by law.
Complaints about the difficulties these citizens encounter in registering on the registry are not new. In fact, there are many municipalities that place obstacles to this right. In the case of Barcelona, according to a previous report from the Audit Office, the complaints refer to the delay in obtaining the aforementioned ICR.
