TV3 Will Spend 500,000 Euros on a Documentary About Open Arms

The NGO Proactiva Open Arms, founded in 2015, is dedicated to rescuing migrants attempting to reach European shores. For years, it has been praised and supported in Catalonia for its humanitarian work. However, it has also been embroiled in controversy, as many accuse them of encouraging illegal immigration and promoting the pull effect.

The Catalan Audiovisual Media Corporation (CCMA) will now give 499,127.23 euros to the production company Glop a Glop Planet SL to make a documentary about this NGO. The contract, which was signed last December, appears on the public audiovisual media corporation's contract portal.

Moreover, it turns out that the benefiting production company has significant ties with PSOE and PSC.

It is part of the Lavinia corporate network, which during the Tripartite obtained the concession to run the Parliament's television channel. It also manages the websites of both PSOE and PSC. And it manages or managed the local televisions of Mollet del Vallès, Mataró, and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.

The management of this company has been filled with socialist councilors and leaders. In 2007, they were commissioned to relaunch José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's candidacy. In 2008, a senior official from the Ministry of Industry joined as deputy director and facilitated the awarding of the Plan E to weather the crisis.

Another deputy director of Lavinia was Lluís Garriga, former press chief of PSC and former mayor of Barcelona Joan Clos, and currently a member of the CCMA's governing council.

Documentary About Open Arms

The CCMA has granted this half-million-euro subsidy to make a documentary about the maritime rescue NGO. The documentary will show the day-to-day operations of this organization dedicated to rescuing migrants at sea to bring them to the shores. It will be available on the 3CAT platform and also on TV3.

Open Arms was founded by Òscar Camps during the 2015 migration crisis. Since then, it has received support from the public-institutional network in Catalonia. However, it has also been criticized by other sectors.

In 2018, a judge in Catania (Sicily) accused Open Arms of promoting illegal immigration and ordered the precautionary blocking of its vessel. The following year, the Italian Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini, prevented the entry of the Open Arms ship. Salvini said it was a "maritime taxi service."