Plan Fuenlabrada: City of Peace

Spain

Jan 12

Written By Sophie van Haasen

Municipality of Fuenlabrada

Mayor

Javier Ayala Ortega

Start of Project

17/03/2022

End of Project

Ongoing

Website

© Francisco Martinez Lanzas. 5 March 2022, Fuenlabrada, Spain- Silent demonstration in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, in the city square.

Overview

Fuenlabrada is a city of 200,000 inhabitants with prior experience in welcoming refugees and migrants and having made significant efforts towards inclusion policies. These efforts comprise the development of intercultural and transversal integration projects, promoting the associations that best represent migrants, to motivate their active civic participation—an EU-funded project called MILMA aimed at enhancing access to employment for nationals and migrants and their participation in the Anti-Rumours Network tackling racism and xenophobia.

Before the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Fuenlabrada had 810 migrant persons residing in the municipality. The government quickly understood that it should prepare for the reception of people escaping the war and drew up a reception and inclusion plan.

The Fuenlabrada: City of Peace Plan has two stages:

First is the reception stage, where services such as registration, schooling, health care, psychological support, language learning, legal advice, and attention to gender violence are provided.
In the second inclusion stage, the municipality assists with employment and training, access to sports and culture, and functional diversity services.

The plan also connects with families who wish to volunteer as a foster home through the La Caixa Foundation, and with the Spanish State's temporary protection information services. The migrants who are residing in the community, including a few Ukrainian migrants, also volunteered to assist the newcomers arriving from Ukraine, and this mobilization supported the local efforts immensely.

Realized Impact (as of April 2023)

More than 100 Ukrainian people have been welcomed.
50 adults are learning Spanish
3 Spanish language groups for young people have been created
25 Ukrainian volunteers are hosting the newly arrived displaced families
4 psychological support groups have been created

Reported Impact [as of June 2026]

Fuenlabrada’s reception and inclusion programs have yielded significant achievements in terms of social cohesion, access to rights, and community strengthening.

The Mesa de la Convivencia has established a stable forum for participatory governance, improving coordination among organizations and increasing participation, as well as preventing conflicts through dialogue and intercultural mediation. This has helped foster a more inclusive and collaborative social climate.

The CAMUS project has spurred community engagement, strengthening neighborhood networks and promoting mediation processes that have facilitated integration in diverse neighborhoods. As a result, citizen participation and shared responsibility in managing community relations have increased.

SEMI has assisted a large number of migrants, facilitating their access to basic resources, legal advice, and employment guidance. Among its achievements are improvements in administrative regularization processes and effective support for social and labor market inclusion.

The Anti-Rumor Strategy has succeeded in raising public awareness and reducing the prevalence of negative stereotypes through campaigns, workshops, and training, thereby fostering a more positive public narrative about cultural diversity.

The MILMA program has helped reduce bureaucratic barriers, improving migrants’ ability to handle administrative procedures on their own. This has resulted in greater access to rights and public services.

Taken together, these programs have helped establish a local model of inclusion recognized for its comprehensive approach, its capacity for social innovation, and its tangible impact on improving social cohesion and equal opportunities.