Report: Spain Now EU’s Top Asylum Destination

Spain has overtaken Germany as the main destination for asylum seekers in the European Union, following the sudden collapse of Syria’s Assad regime and a steep decline in Syrian migration to Europe, according to an unpublished report by the EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA).

The report, seen by the Financial Times, says the agency recorded 64,000 asylum applications across the EU in May 2025—a 24% decrease compared to the same month last year. The sharpest fall came from Syrians, whose claims plummeted from around 16,000 in October 2024 to just 3,100 in May. For the first time in over a decade, Germany no longer tops the list, with its monthly claims halving to 9,900. Spain now leads with 12,800 applications, fuelled in part by rising numbers from Venezuela amid that country’s economic collapse.

However, the report notes that this shift is not the result of tougher asylum rules, but rather the end of Syria’s 13-year civil war, which concluded last December with the ousting of Bashar al-Assad by Islamist rebel forces. The change has upended long-standing migration trends and exposed deep divisions within the EU over how to respond.

But in Spain, where asylum claims were already rising, the new figures come amid growing public discontent. Recent incidents involving migrant crime—most notably the brutal assault of a Spanish pensioner by Moroccan suspects in Torre Pacheco—have sparked riots, arrests, and accusations that the government’s lax immigration policies are putting citizens at risk.

The backlash has also intensified following the horrific case of a 17-year-old girl set on fire in Gran Canaria by a Moroccan national who had entered Spain illegally and was living in a squatted building despite being under an expulsion order.

In May, the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez pushed forward with a mass amnesty for illegal migrants, bowing to pressure from far-left coalition partners and business groups seeking cheap labour—even as more than three million Spaniards remain unemployed.

Critics argued that the policy rewards illegal immigration and serves electoral interests. “It’s not about humanitarianism,” said VOX leader Santiago Abascal. “It’s about importing voters.”

Regional anger is also growing after the Sánchez government in March agreed to a controversial redistribution of unaccompanied minors from the Canary Islands. Madrid, governed by the conservative PP, is being forced to take in over 700 minors—while Catalonia, aligned with separatist parties, will take just 20 to 30.

While the EU celebrates a drop in overall asylum numbers, Spain’s new status as the top destination risks becoming a political and social powder keg—one fuelled by weak border enforcement and a government unwilling to change course.