Walter Finch
SPAIN has become the EU’s number one destination for asylum seekers after overtaking Germany in May.
The change comes after a dramatic drop in Syrian asylum applications across the EU, according to an unpublished report by the EU Agency for Asylum seen by the Financial Times.
Spain recorded almost 12,800 asylum applications in May, the latest period available, compared to Germany’s 9,900 claims.
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It is the first time in a decade that Germany has lost its dubious position as the bloc’s primary asylum destination.
Spain’s position as the new frontrunner comes despite a decline in total applications, which fell from 16,300 in May 2024 to 12,800 this year.
However, the country has seen an increase in applications from Venezuelans fleeing the ‘severe economic and political crisis’ in their homeland.
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The EU agency suggested this Venezuelan migration trend could be linked to the United States’ immigration crackdown, including deportations of Venezuelans.
Small boat crossings, mainly from the African west coast to the Canary Islands, reached an all-time record in 2024 as 60,000 people arrived in Spain.
That number dropped significantly to 11,284 in 2025 up until mid-June, according to the European Council on Refugees and Exiles.
Italy now holds second place with 12,300 asylum claims in May, down from 15,500 last year, with a third of applications filed by Bangladeshis and Peruvians.
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France ranks third with 11,900 claims, driven by applications from Congolese fleeing conflict, as well as Afghans and Haitians.
The shift began in February when Syrian asylum applications plummeted from roughly 16,000 in October last year to just 3,100 in May.
The Malta-based EU asylum agency described the drop as ‘extremely abrupt’ following the fall of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December.
Overall EU asylum claims fell by nearly a quarter to 64,000 in May compared to the same month in 2024, driven primarily by the reduction in Syrian applications.
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For the past decade, Syrians had been the largest group of asylum seekers in the EU.
In Germany, which had been particularly popular with Syrian applicants, overall asylum claims in May dropped by about half compared to the previous year.
Despite the shift in new applications, Germany likely retains the largest population of asylum seekers overall, having granted asylum to 150,000 applicants between 2008 and 2024 compared to Spain’s 50,900.
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