The Catalan government is considering creating a fund to finance municipalities based on their migrant population, aiming to improve their reception services and reduce their dependence on subsidies. This is one of the proposals from the Committee of Experts for Social Transformation and Innovation (CETIS) of the Department of Social Rights, which presented a report on Monday detailing the situation of the 1.4 million foreigners living in Catalonia, a country with a population of 8 million. The Catalan Fund for Reception and Inclusion seeks to provide Catalan mayors with more tools to better plan for the arrival of immigrants, offering them a fixed budget that goes beyond the current subsidy programs and ad hoc plans that often end without having delivered the desired results because, quite simply, the expected results have been achieved. At the presentation of the report, the Minister of Social Rights, Mònica Martínez Bravo, indicated that the fund could be integrated into the new program for local governments, and that the Generalitat's future budgets, if approved, will include additional funding to support this group, following the agreement between the PSC and Comuns parties. The fund proposal is still just an idea, but it has the backing of the Minister, who declined to specify which public policies or initiatives it might finance. In this regard, she referred to the fact that municipalities are aware of the real "needs" of each town in order to decide how to invest the funds. At a time when far-right groups are fighting policies that promote social cohesion, the Minister stated that the Catalan Government will be "very vigilant in ensuring compliance with the law" in those local councils that attempt to circumvent the law and discriminate against or criminalize migrants.

"You feel like an island when you migrate, in the middle of an ocean of red tape." Tatiana Cárdenas, a recently naturalized Colombian citizen, used this phrase to describe the shortcomings of the reception system and support services for the new wave of immigration. A report presented this Thursday by the Third Sector Roundtable, based on data and interviews, fully echoes her words, describing the system as outdated, overly rigid, and bureaucratic for the diverse needs and profiles of the people arriving in this wave of migration that has brought Catalonia's population to eight million. Cárdenas's sentiment is common among immigrants who have no alternative but to enter the country irregularly because the legal route is nonexistent: they encounter obstacles ranging from the impossibility of registering with the local authorities to being unable to work legally or study beyond compulsory education because of the law regarding irregular status. Cárdenas admits that she was "privileged" because she entered the country as a companion thanks to her husband's employment contract, but even so, she couldn't avoid the obstacle course of ceasing to be isolated and integrating into the community. Cárdenas, currently an active member of Fedelatina and self-employed, complained that the reception system forces migrants to "solve everything at once." The Catalan language course, registering with the local council, earning a living during the years of irregular status to survive, finding housing... "You have to keep checking boxes, but you can't wait until you have a good level of language to start working," she argues. Beside her, Venezuelan Jaime Samuel Vergara also raises the difficulties faced by international asylum seekers, and the young Moroccan woman Hiba Jaoui gives voice to the life of a minor who arrived alone and has been placed under guardianship. She is now studying for a vocational qualification and says she feels supported, but she also remembers the "racism" she suffered at the reception center.

Fostering a child is a huge emotional challenge. Even with hope and enthusiasm, fears, doubts, and insecurities arise. Currently, in Catalonia, there are 1,256 children under six years old under the care of the Directorate General for the Prevention and Protection of Children and Adolescents (DGPPIA), and only 787 families in foster care. Given this context, Mari Carmen Ruiz and José Perea's desire was clear: to accompany and give these children a second chance at life, so they can grow up in a healthy environment. Based on this premise, seven years ago they decided to become foster families.

"When I arrived with the foster family, everything was new. I had much more freedom, I could do many more things than in a center. Being taken in was like a gift, I will always say that," explains Laura Frau, a foster child for 12 years. Her biological family couldn't take her, so at the age of 6, social services referred her to a foster home run by the General Directorate for Child and Adolescent Care (DGAIA), an agency of the Generalitat (Catalan government) responsible for caring for minors who lack family members.

The arrest of a migrant minor residing at a shelter in the Madrid district of Hortaleza for sexually assaulting an underage girl has sparked a new social and political conflict, with the immigration debate in the spotlight. The alleged rape occurred early Friday morning in a park near the shelter, and a judge ordered the arrested man to be placed in a closed detention center. This Sunday night, however, an allegedly xenophobic attack was also reported near the same shelter: two hooded individuals attacked two minors residing at the center and a third adult who was accompanying them.

What should happen with immigration, especially when there are rapid processes of "population growth and renewal" and the change –quite rightly– perceived as "dazzling", as What did Dr. Andreu Domingo say in this newspaper last Sunday? It should beintegrate by assimilate it to the host society? Should it bewelcome he newcomer In a gesture of generous benevolence? Policies need to be made inclusive that respect, and even protect, cultural particularities?

They say they are in the reserve, that they have taken the summer as a "break" before accepting a new foster child who, for various reasons, cannot live with their parents. Josep Sala and Esther Bertran are teachers who during the 1990s had taken in children from Bosnia and the Sahara in the summer, and who, once retired, invest time, effort, and enthusiasm in taking in children under the guardianship of the general management of the Prevention and Protection of Children and Adolescents (DGPPIA)).

The idea of professionalizing foster care has come to an end. The Department of Social Rights and Inclusion has decided to close the Specialized Family Foster Care Program (AFE-EP), a pilot program inspired by the experience established over the past two decades in the Basque Country. The goal was to remove children between the ages of 7 and 18 with serious behavioral or mental health disorders from the centers under the care of the Generalitat (Catalan Government) so they could grow up in a home that would not only offer them love but also intensive care. Of the four families that were in the program, three are determined to continue, while the fourth child is about to move to another family. The decision was made for "administrative reasons," explains Elena Lledós, director of the Catalan Institute for Foster Care and Adoption (ICAA), who does not reveal whether it will be resumed later.

"One day at school, we learned that one of our son's classmates was in foster care. We thought it was really nice. Years later, a friend told us about the process, and we decided to take the step." This is how Mayra's story begins. They foster nearly a thousand children in Catalonia, taking on the roles that their family of origin is temporarily unable to perform. They are their family and need a home that gives them love and security. That's why the government's commitment is clear: all children, especially the youngest, must be able to grow up in a family, and this will only be possible with more people willing to take them in. The government has provided financial support to strengthen technical teams, streamline procedures, provide more support to foster families, and implement tax improvements. The program includes specialized care, and holiday and weekend care. There are 798 foster families in Catalonia, caring for 908 children.