Another coach load of Ukrainian families has arrived in Spain's main refugee center in Madrid, all of them facing an uncertain future. The United Nations says at least 3.2 million people have fled Ukraine since the fighting began on February 24.

Many of those have made their escape thanks to the goodwill and kindness of complete strangers who just wanted to help – strangers like Rafael Santos, who told CGTN Europe about his 3,000-kilometer trip from Spain to a refugee camp in Poland where he tried to rescue as many people as he could.

READ MORE

Can you measure intelligence?

'Stop this war!' A plea from a town of horror

What are hypersonic missiles?

"When we arrived there, we found the situation was extremely hard as you all can imagine. We visited two different refugee camps looking for people that wanted to leave," he said.

"We spent the whole day there looking for them and filling all the cars."

Altogether the team brought 5,000 kilograms of food and supplies to Poland – and as soon as the cars were full, says Santos, they made their way back to Spain.

Spain's expanding Ukrainian population

According to Spain's migration minister Jesus Perea, about 4,500 Ukrainian refugees have been registered in Spain since the start of the fighting. However, Perea has admitted the real number is probably much higher, with many refugees going directly to relatives in Spain without registering with the authorities.

The NGOs working at the refugee center here say Madrid is almost reaching full capacity. As a result, many are being relocated to cities across Spain, including Avila, Valencia and Toledo.

Spain's Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska recently visited the refugee center in Madrid, and he said his government were committed to making sure Ukrainians fleeing the fighting would be looked after.

"Over the last week, we've granted over 5,800 'Temporary Protection Permits' to help the refugees," he said. "We will keep working hard and tirelessly so both adults and children can get the help and attention that they need."

Spain says there are currently over 112,000 Ukrainian citizens living in the country. With such a large Ukrainian diaspora, this in theory makes the process new arrivals assimilating much quicker and easier.

However the psychological trauma many refugees are now experiencing may take longer to heal.