Following fires in cramped migrant worker settlements in southwest Spain and subsequent criticism by a UN official about "deplorable conditions" there, Spanish soldiers were deployed over the weekend to build a camp for migrant strawberry pickers.
The Workers' Commissions (Comisiones Obreras) trade union reported that the number of migrants without a regular permit in Catalonia rose 54.6 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year. The union said one of the main reasons for the rise is that migrants have a hard time renewing their work permits.