This article analyzes Spain’s first community sponsorship programme, Auzolana II, implemented in the Basque Country as a multi-level governance partnership between state authorities and civil society organizations. Drawing on opportunity structures and private sponsorship evaluation frameworks, it finds that while strong planning ensured access to essential services and enabled legal participation in work and education, long-term refugee autonomy remained limited. The programme fostered supportive volunteer–refugee relationships and improved local attitudes toward refugees, but these connections sometimes constrained broader social integration, highlighting the need for greater additionality, wider community engagement, and stronger intercultural training to sustain meaningful integration outcomes.