The monolith of Spain's "migrant crisis" gets a decidedly tongue-in-cheek treatment in this highly stylish satirical observation. When award-winning filmmaker Juan Antonio Moreno Amador learned that Seville's last brothel was being repurposed into a refugee reception centre, he moved in with his cameras. After two years of getting to know the people, families and their traumas, he shares their impressions of what life is like in this completely new European culture. What emerges is an eye-opening look at the Spaniards they meet and the space they create for immigrants. Taking Macarena dance lessons, looking for work, expressing LGBTQ lifestyles, watching anti-immigrant VOX party elections and facing the COVID outbreak, a lively cast shares their firsthand experiences. Blending 1970s television advertising touches with sweet portraits of the residents, Welcome to Spain skips the conventional bureaucratic coverage of the refugee claims system for a warmer look at real people building new lives in realities they did not choose. Myrocia Watamaniuk

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