May 2026 – Research and Projects

On April 27, the National Workshop of the SHIELDed project took place at the Headquarters of the Madrid Municipal Police, during a session jointly organised by the Euro-Arab Foundation and the city’s Municipal Police.

The meeting brought together around 25 participants from law enforcement agencies, mainly the Madrid Municipal Police and the Guardia Civil, religious communities, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, public administrations, and civil society organisations based in Madrid and operating nationwide.

During the session, participants analysed the main risks, vulnerabilities, and challenges related to the protection of places of worship and other religious spaces in Spain. The workshop also served to promote interfaith dialogue, multisectoral cooperation, and the development of coordinated responses to hate crimes and extremist threats.

The program included specialised presentations, participatory working groups, and a solutions lab focused on developing communication protocols and action plans aimed at strengthening prevention, protection, and response capacity in the event of possible incidents.

SHIELDed is a European project focused on the protection of places of worship and religious sites against extremist threats, hate-motivated attacks, and other security risks. The initiative promotes a comprehensive approach based on cooperation between public authorities, law enforcement agencies, religious communities, and civil society, fostering prevention, training, and coordination tools to strengthen the resilience and security of these spaces in Europe.

The SHIELDed national workshops are spaces for collaboration and joint work promoted in different European countries with the aim of bringing together key stakeholders to identify common challenges, share best practices, and design coordinated strategies for the protection of places of worship and the prevention of hate crimes and violent extremism.

Fotografías cedidas por Policía Municipal de Madrid

On April 29, within the framework of the DATA EQUALITY project, the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies conducted a national exercise in Spain aimed at analysing the practical challenges in implementing European judicial cooperation instruments, with a particular focus on data management and transmission. The activity, held online, consisted of an in-depth interview with two expert profiles—one from the prison administration and one from the police force—focusing on the consequences of information fragmentation in transnational contexts.

The exercise explored how the lack of complete and contextualized data impacts the actions of judicial, police, and prison authorities, as well as decision-making and the protection of fundamental rights. Furthermore, this activity is part of the pilot phase of the project’s newly developed methodology, aimed at validating its applicability in real-world settings.

Challenges and Proposals

Key findings included the existence of critical information gaps (such as the absence of complete prison records, risk indicators, or vulnerability data) as well as operational obstacles stemming from poor translations, a lack of legal equivalence, and limited institutional coordination.

The exercise also gathered proposals to improve cooperation mechanisms, including:

Strengthening system interoperability.
Developing standardised protocols for information exchange.
The need for specialised training for the professionals involved.

These results provide relevant empirical evidence for developing more inclusive and effective methodologies for data management within European judicial cooperation.

Through this activity, the Euro-Arab Foundation has helped identify key challenges related to the quality, interoperability, and transmission of data between Member States, highlighting a significant gap between the regulatory design of European instruments and their practical application.