Spain to reform asylum laws to align with EU rules as Ceuta crisis remains unresolved

The Spanish government is expected to present a draft bill to reform immigration and asylum laws as it struggles to contain the political fallout of the Ceuta crisis, which saw 80,000 people cross illegally from Morocco into the Spanish city in one day in July.

Madrid said the aim is to “bring Spanish legislation into line with the European Pact on Migration and Asylum”, which came into force this summer and makes it easier to reject asylum requests and accelerate expulsions, in line with demands from hardline countries.

Spain had initially opposed large parts of the legislation, arguing that a more comprehensive and humane approach to migration would be more beneficial. In practice, aligning with the EU will bring harsher measures into force, even as Spanish sources insist that fundamental rights will be guaranteed under the new system.

The timing comes as the migrant crisis in Ceuta remains unresolved, putting the spotlight on Madrid’s handling of irregular migration, as well as its push to regularise up to 500,000 migrants living and working in Spain without legal documents.

While the vast majority of the 80,000 people who crossed the border illegally have returned to Morocco, around 5,000 remain in the Spanish enclave, including an estimated 2,000 minors.

The issue of unaccompanied minors is particularly sensitive, as Madrid seeks to balance strict legal requirements with its commitments to Brussels and Ceuta’s regional authorities to return everyone who entered illegally.

An attempt to transfer the minors to mainland Spain through an emergency decree has stalled, as the Spanish government, the conservative opposition and Ceuta’s regional authorities remain divided over the procedure.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has said Spain must carry out returns where there are no legal grounds for a person to remain in EU territory, while also ensuring that the rights of minors are protected under international conventions.

Madrid has yet to find a solution.

The draft immigration and asylum bill approved on Tuesday goes beyond Ceuta. It will implement the broader European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which came into force on 12 June, and introduce the EU’s so-called “screening” procedure. The legislation will also affect the Canary Islands, which have seen an increase in irregular arrivals by boat.

A single command to deal with an unresolved crisis

The Spanish government also declared the Ceuta crisis a matter “of interest to national security” and called for a single command to manage the response.

The decision came almost a month after the crisis began, prompting sharp criticism from the conservative opposition People’s Party (PP). Juan Vivas, president of Ceuta, had spent weeks calling on the Spanish government to take control of a situation that had overwhelmed the autonomous city.

Spain has yet to provide a comprehensive explanation of what triggered the mass influx into Ceuta, beyond pointing to human traffickers and a social media campaign that allegedly led young Moroccans and sub-Saharan migrants to believe they could enter the city and automatically claim asylum

While several ministers have been dispatched to the city, Pedro Sánchez is yet to address the migrant crisis in public since visiting Ceuta on July 31, when he declared that Spain’s territorial integrity “had been breached”, without blaming Morocco for the influx.

Rabat has said Madrid’s mass regularisation of migrants earlier this year sent contradictory signals.