1st International Conference on Immigration Law, Reception and Integration

Patricia Bárcena García

Second assistant ombudsman.

Email: adjuntia2@defensordelpueblo.es

A law graduate, qualified in criminology and management of non-profit organisations, she has worked as a lawyer in areas linked to the defence of human rights for 25 years. She specialises in immigration law and international protection, and has taught in these fields. She has taken part in several international observation missions monitoring the human rights situations in Mexico, Palestine, Guatemala and Colombia. Before joining the ombudsman's office, she headed the CEAR-Euskadi (Zehar-Errefuxiatuekin) association and was vice-dean of the Bizkaia bar association.

As second assistant, she works in the following areas: economy and tax, environment and regional planning and migrations and equal treatment.

She also sits on the advisory council on the national mechanism for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishments (MNP), as well as the advisory commission set up by the ombudsman to implement the parliamentary mandate on support for victims of sexual abuse within the Catholic church and the role of the public authorities.

She also supervised the drawing up of the reports on "Challenges of Financial Inclusion: Banking Services and Vulnerable People" [2024] and "Unaccompanied and Accompanied Foreign children in Spain" [2025].