Nicolás Marugán has since 2009 been the director of the Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia, part of the General Secretariat of Immigration of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security and Liaison Officer of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights with the Kingdom of Spain.

The tasks of the Observatory are: collecting and analysing racism and xenophobia in Spain; establishing networks of formal and informal communication with national and international organizations active in the fight against racism and xenophobia; and promoting the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination.

The Observatory has coordinated the development of the comprehensive strategy against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, adopted by the Council of Ministers and developed in collaboration with various ministers, external experts, NGOs, the public prosecutor´s office, universities and councils, and in consultation with various professional entities; and is currently promoting its implementation.

Moreover, another function in the last three years has been to act as national contact point on the integration of immigrants in the network coordinated by the European Commission.