Although the Spanish legislation doesn’t permit that foreign nationals could vote in the local elections (with the exemption of EU and EFTA nationals, and nationals from countries with a reciprocity agreement), in the elected Council of Sabadell, there are persons with a migrant background. Additionally, the city has a consultative body where migrants and associations representing migrants discuss integration and inclusion issues.

The city hasn’t developed yet any action to promote the presence of minority groups in all supervisory bodies in the city. However, some initiatives to encourage people with migrant/minority backgrounds to engage in political life are deployed. This is the case of the New Citizens participation table, made up of representatives from different organisations representing newly arrived citizens. This roundtable is chaired by the representative of the municipality responsible for welcoming and intercultural policies. In this space, issues related to the citizenship rights and duties or the legal difficulties encountered by migrants are discussed. Proposals then are transferred to other political, judicial and social bodies. At the same time, this space allows to elaborate proposals of collective and open activities to the whole citizenship, to put in value and to make visible the diverse cultural groups that coexist in the city and to facilitate exchange, boost respect and knowledge.

Finally, the New Citizenship Board is an advisory body that includes different immigrant associations and organisations that work in the migration field as well as representation of the local administration. Its functions are: the transfer of information, to find consensus on lines of work, to detect the interests, concerns and problems of the migrants and ethnic minorities and to address those issues in cooperation.