People of Spain open doors to Ukrainian refugees

GUISSONA, Spain (AP) — While millions of Ukrainians who escape bombs and bullets on their land seek refuge in Western Europe, few places do they feel as welcome as in an inland Spanish town known as “Little Ukraine”.

Already before Russian tanks invaded Ukraine last month, one in seven residents of Guissona had Ukrainian roots.

The population of Guissona more than doubled to 7,500 inhabitants, and attracted numerous foreigners, including Ukrainians, after a supermarket opened a distribution center in the area two decades ago.

More than 3.5 million people have already left Ukraine since the Russian invasion. Refugees find shelter in small communities across Europe where friends and family live.

In Guissona, refugees don't just stay with relatives. The whole population stands in solidarity with them and tries to help them.

Miguel Julia, a local merchant, had an empty apartment for sale in the village. He says he has many Ukrainian friends and that when a cousin of a Ukrainian refugee family asked him for help, he allowed them to stay in the apartment until they can return to their country.

“We are having a hard time, a bad time, seeing the way they come and the stories they tell,” Julia said.

Her apartment is now occupied by Alona Hrykun, a 44-year-old seamstress from Kiev, her teenage daughter and a young son.

“My husband stayed in Kiev. He drives an ambulance and is transporting the wounded and sick during the invasion,” Hrykun said. “I am very proud to be Ukrainian.”

Gone are also Hrykun's mother and grandmother. None of them were physically fit to make the 2,500-kilometer (1,500-mile) journey from one end of Europe to the other.

The authorities in Guissona, located in northeastern Spain, in Catalonia, are striving to prevent the emergence of ghettos and to help foreign workers integrate into the community.

Many of the windows and balconies of the village buildings, including that of the municipality, have the Ukrainian flag and anti-war posters.

More than 200 Ukrainian refugees arrived in Guissona so far, part of the 25,000 that Spain has received.

“They have our full support. They feel protected,” said Maria Ángeles López, a 67-year-old retiree. “We all try to help and accompany them. To show solidarity with them.”

Since the beginning of the war, dozens of locals and refugees have been working in a warehouse in Guissona, packing food, medicine, clothing, blankets and toys to be sent to Ukraine.

Volunteers include Alina Slobodianiuk, who arrived in town three years ago with her teenage children, Maxim and Yana.

They lived in the industrial city of Dnipro in Ukraine, where she was a public relations executive at a major bank. She's divorced. Her ex-husband is a military man.

Most of his family, including his parents, a brother and a sister, stayed in Ukraine. He says that he is in contact with them every day, that the family chose to stay in the hope that the war will soon be over.

“It wasn't an easy decision because I love my country, I love it very much,” Slobodianiuk said. “But I'm afraid of what can happen to my children.”

The Spanish government was one of the first in Europe to mobilize to deal with the wave of Ukrainian refugees. Among the temporary measures that were taken were to give them temporary residence and work permits within 24 hours.

Refugees have access to public health services, discounts on medicines and free education, among other benefits.

Some 115,000 Ukrainians lived in Spain last year, according to the 2021 census.

Networking between Ukrainians is facilitating their relocation to other parts of Europe. In a village in the Italian Apennines, an hour's drive from Rome, two Ukrainians who escaped with their children were able to settle thanks to family ties and a couple from the area.

Tania, 30, and Katia, 33, escaped from Lviv a few days before the outbreak of the war, leaving their husbands behind. They are the daughter and daughter-in-law of Halyna, a Ukrainian based in the Italian village of Belmonte Sabino.

Halyna looked after the mother-in-law of a hotel owner, who now houses the two women and their children.

“We are very happy. Italians have a big heart,” said Tania.

The women asked not to be identified with their full names for fear of reprisals against their families in their country.

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Barry Hatton collaborated in this office from Lisbon.