Spain Approves Draft Asylum And Immigration Reforms After Ceuta Crisis

An irregular migrant is seen in Ceuta, Spain, Aug. 15, 2026. (Xinhua/Cheng Min) The Spanish government on Tuesday approved a draft bill to reform the country's asylum and immigration legislation to "adapt Spanish legislation to the European Pact on Migration and Asylum." Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska announced the changes following Tuesday's cabinet meeting against the backdrop of the recent migration crisis in Ceuta, which saw an estimated 70,000 people enter the Spanish North African enclave from Morocco on July 30, many hoping to travel onward to other parts of the European Union. Although most of the migrants subsequently returned to Morocco, several thousand remain in the enclave. The Spanish government has declared a "situation of national security interest" in Ceuta until the end of the year. The government has also established a unified command to coordinate its response to the migration crisis. The measure was announced on Monday by Vice President and Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Carlos Cuerpo following a meeting with Ceuta President Juan Jesus Vivas. Other measures approved on Tuesday included allocating around 25 million euros (29.2 million U.S. dollars) for the care of unaccompanied minors who entered the enclave, as well as a further 180 million euros (210 million dollars) to strengthen security and manage the return of migrants from Ceuta. Grande-Marlaska told a press conference that authorities had received no warning of the mass influx. "No intelligence service suspected anything of the sort, and that's why everyone acted correctly," he said.

Almost a month after the migration crisis in Ceuta, the Government moves. The Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved a reform of the asylum law and a part of the current immigration law, according to what ABC can report from government sources. The measure by the Executive seeks to adapt the Spanish law to the EU Migration and Asylum Pact (PEMA), officials from the Moncloa assure. The decision comes on the same day that the Government issued a declaration of a situation of national security interest and a single command in Ceuta in response to the migration crisis the city has been experiencing since July 30. Specifically, the Council of Ministers approved two draft laws promoted by the Ministry of the Interior that involve the drafting of a new-style asylum law and a broad reform of Organic Law 4/2000, of January 11, on the rights and liberties of foreigners in Spain and their social integration, with the aim of aligning Spanish legislation with Brussels. Government sources insist that the draft for a new asylum law is prepared with a “guarantee-oriented” approach and respect for the human rights of migrants, a perspective that, in turn, is combined with the necessary management of borders to ensure the country’s security. As for the Immigration Law, they say the partial reform being advanced aims to adapt it to the European Migration and Asylum Pact (PEMA) in areas affecting fundamental rights, which are new or incompatible with the current wording of this rule, changes that do not affect the system as a whole.

Publicity This Tuesday, the Council of Ministers meeting has returned to the political agenda. This first gathering after the summer focuses on urgent measures in Ceuta, including a unified command. "The Council of Ministers has declared for the first time in history the situation of interest for national security in Ceuta, and a unified command is established to strengthen coordination," explained the Government spokesperson and Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, Elma Saiz, just as the press conference following the Council of Ministers began. Saiz stressed that "the Government has been, is, and will continue to be in the city with the resources that are needed," since it is an "extraordinary situation that requires an extraordinary response." It will be the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, who will assume the unified command of crisis management through a body that will coordinate eleven ministries with the autonomous city. Asylum Law and Immigration Law Moreover, we know that the Government has given the green light to the draft laws on asylum and on reforming the immigration law with a "guarantor" approach that respects the human rights of migrants. The aim is also to better respond to the reality of the migratory phenomenon. The Council of Ministers has approved in the first round both drafts to align Spanish legislation with the 2024 European Pact on Migration and Asylum, as reported by Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska. The initiatives aim to have a system of protection that is more agile, effective, orderly, and guaranteeing, which better responds to the reality of the migratory phenomenon without reducing the guarantees for applicants and beneficiaries. Change of the asylum law Among the changes of this new asylum law, Marlaska noted that it "updates" and "specifies" the definitions of international protection, refugee status, and subsidiary protection, and explicitly incorporates realities such as persecution related to gender, gender identity or expression, and disability. As for the processing of international protection applications, the Interior minister highlighted that the future law distinguishes between the ordinary examination procedure and an accelerated examination procedure, which must be resolved in three months. A new border procedure is also established, provided for in the EU regulation and applicable in certain cases, with a maximum resolution time of 12 weeks, during which the international protection applicant must remain at the disposal of the Spanish authorities. Situation of interest for national security The Government has declared the "situation of interest for national security" in the autonomous city and will establish a unified command to coordinate the response to the migratory crisis, as announced this Monday by Vice President and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Carlos Cuerpo, after his meeting with Ceuta's president, Juan Jesús Vivas. More News - Torres and Vivas hold a first meeting in which they agree to locate migrants in spaces chosen "by consensus" - Juan Jesús Vivas, exclusively for Antena 3: "Spain's dignity is at stake today in Ceuta" - Marlaska insists there was no "report that hinted" at mass migrant entry into Ceuta Robles warns: do not doubt that Ceuta and Melilla are Spain and are untouchable In her appearance before the Congress of Deputies, Defense Minister Margarita Robles warned that Ceuta and Melilla are untouchable because they are Spain, while emphasizing that the Government will not permit the convivencia and tolerance values represented by the two autonomous cities to be "put in danger or debated from any perspective." Publicity

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has convened an extraordinary meeting of the National Security Council as authorities in Ceuta struggle with the aftermath of the mass arrival of tens of thousands of migrants from Morocco almost four weeks ago. The council will meet at Madrid's Moncloa Palace ahead of the first cabinet meeting after the summer break to assess the situation and coordinate the government's response. Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the North African coast bordering Morocco, has been under intense pressure since tens of thousands of people crossed the border on 30 and 31 July. Spain's Interior Ministry previously put the number of arrivals at around 72,000, about 70,000 of whom had subsequently returned to Morocco. However, the Spanish government's representative in Ceuta, Miguel Ángel Pérez Triano, said on Monday that more than 80,000 people had entered through the Tarajal border. Pérez Triano acknowledged that the city remained "very far" from returning to normal, 25 days after the crisis began. Speaking after meeting officials from the National Police's Immigration and Borders Brigade, he said additional facilities had been opened but there were still not enough places for all those requiring assistance. Pérez Triano also rejected calls for his resignation, saying stepping down in the middle of the crisis would be "an absolute act of irresponsibility and cowardice". Spain is preparing to send up to 25,000 vaccine doses to Ceuta, according to El País, which cited an agreement by the country's Public Health Commission. PP demands more staff to process returns Spain's opposition People's Party (PP) stepped up pressure on the government on Monday, calling for more immigration officials to be sent to Ceuta to speed up the processing of returns. Party spokesperson Borja Sémper said "all the immigration units that are needed" should be deployed and work three shifts a day to process the cases of migrants who remain in the city. "It is unacceptable that returns are being processed as if this were a normal situation, because it is extraordinary," Sémper said. "As many civil servants as necessary must be mobilised for as long as necessary. They must all be returned, and as soon as possible," he added. Borrell criticises Europe's response Meanwhile, former Spanish foreign minister and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has described Europe's response to the mass arrivals in Ceuta as "hysterical, disproportionate and absurd". Borrell accused EU countries of failing to show solidarity with Spain and rejected claims that the crisis was caused by the country's migration policies. "Several countries, all except France, Portugal, Luxembourg and Ireland, have gone into panic. European solidarity has disappeared. The laws must be applied," he said. Twenty-two EU countries have criticised Spain's migration policies, arguing that measures including its regularisation of undocumented migrants have acted as a "pull factor". Borrell said Europe needed to strengthen its external borders, but defended Spain's handling of minors and potential asylum seekers who remain in Ceuta. "The Spanish government is right to emphasise that minors have rights: the laws must be applied," he said. Borrell also called on Madrid to take a firmer stance in Brussels and rejected suggestions that Spanish migration policy was responsible for the crisis.

The Spanish government has approved a preliminary bill to reform the country’s immigration and asylum legislation, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on August 25. The reform is aimed at bringing Spanish law into line with the European Pact on Migration and Asylum,Caliber.AzreportsviaSpanish media. The authorities have also declared Ceuta a situation of interest for national security and established a unified command to manage the migration crisis there. The command will be headed by Territorial Policy Minister Ángel Víctor Torres. Under the proposed legislation, migrants would undergo a screening procedure to determine whether they should be returned. In Spain, the procedure would last 72 hours, compared with the seven days provided for under European rules. Any extension would require a court order. By Aghakazim Guliyev

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MadridThe Spanish government approved two key draft bills on migration matters this Tuesday: on the one hand, a new law on the right to asylum and, on the other, a reform of the law on the rights and freedoms of foreigners. This was announced by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who appeared after the first council of ministers after the summer holidays, which focused on the Ceuta crisis. Marlaska explained the impetus for these two reforms to adapt Spanish legislation to the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which tightens the migratory policies of the European borders.Read it all On this issue, Marlaska assured that states have room to maintain "guarantor" legislation. According to him, the new legislation on the right to asylum is made from the "human rights perspective" and, at the same time, maintains the objective of defending the security of the State. In his opinion, these are procedural changes so that states can act more quickly, although the European legislative package primarily guarantees that people cannot move around the territory until their case has been resolved, an aspect that has received criticism from various NGOs. In the Spanish case, for example, they incorporate a regulation of mandatory application in which the asylum seeker, in specific cases, must be available to the authorities, in police facilities, for a maximum period of twelve weeks until their file is resolved to facilitate expulsion in case it is resolved unfavorably. When analyzing applications, the new text also regulates three key concepts for deciding on admission: the first country of asylum (the first place where it is requested), the safe third country (a country that is not the country of origin, but is safe for deporting the immigrant) and the safe country of origin (the immigrant must justify that their country of origin is not safe for them), although the Spanish government has not specified how they will use the new tools. According to the Interior Ministry, asylum applications have gone from 3,000 in 2009 to 144,000 in 2025. On the other hand, regarding the legal change on the rights and freedoms of foreigners, the Ministry of the Interior highlights that the main novelty is the incorporation of the triage of foreign persons who cross the external borders of the European Union without meeting the entry conditions. In this regard, it establishes the obligation not to authorize entry into Spanish territory until the triage process is completed, which consists of a medical examination, a vulnerability assessment, biometric data identification, a security inspection, and referral to an appropriate process. Spanish law states that all this must be done within 72 hours, although European legislation allows up to seven days. In parallel, it also establishes that persons without the right to stay must be returned to their countries of origin within a maximum of twelve weeks. According to Marlaska, the Spanish government wants to minimize the time asylum seekers can spend in police facilities, and this is an example of the legislative margin the State has when applying the toughening of European immigration policies. Spain was the only member state that opposed the returns regulation and the harshest parts of the European Union's Migration and Asylum Pact, despite it being mandatory for all member states, and which consists of accelerating the return of irregular immigrants and creating return centers outside the EU. For this reason, it must now adapt its legislation to avoid contradictions when it comes into force. Despite this, while rejecting the expulsion of immigrants to third countries, the Spanish government has pursued a policy of agreement with North African states, such as Morocco and Mauritania, to curb irregular immigration, which some consider has empowered these countries to pursue a blackmail policy, which can be linked to the current crisis in Ceuta and Spain's shift on the Western Sahara issue. Although this reform is subsequent to the Ceuta crisis, sources from Moncloa dissociate its approval from the situation in the autonomous city, as they argue that it was approved at the meeting of undersecretaries of state, the step prior to the Council of Ministers, before the massive entry of immigrants on July 30. "We had to adapt the legislation to European regulations," they recall. However, the fact is that they have decided to bring it to the Council of Ministers now, in the midst of the debate on migration policies. With the preliminary drafts having passed the first round of the Council of Ministers, the texts will now be brought to the attention of the other ministries with competencies in immigration for their contributions, and the reports from the Council of State and the General Council of the Judiciary are also expected. Afterwards, the Ministry of the Interior will bring the new text to the Council of Ministers and it will go to Congress, where the executive does not have guaranteed support from the plurinational majority. In fact, Sumar and the left-wing parties have repeatedly opposed the EU's change in vision on immigration amidst the rise of the far-right.

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News PSOE Ceuta Immigration Law Russia Ukraine Trump Ibex 35 Aemet Real Madrid Real Sociedad Ceuta Melilla Vuelta España hotel Vuelta España schedule Alfonso Nasarre United States Robles CNI Pensions August 2026 Roberto Brasero Gabriel Rufián Rafa Jódar NASA Madrid Metro Vinicius Erola Jons Alberto Contador La Promesa Latest news Osborne inheritance Manuel Carrasco neurocientífica Spain Opinion Economy Companies International Culture Technology and Science Health ACyV Sports * Vanitatis 1. Spain! Photo: The press conference convened after the Council of Ministers meeting. (EFE/Chema Moya):format(jpg)/f.elconfidencial.com/original/484/d26/176/484d261762f335a4744f8f26c0244b5d.jpg) The press conference convened after the Council of Ministers meeting. (EFE/Chema Moya) By A. P. R.B. 25/08/2026 - 13:58 The Council of Ministers has taken the first step this Tuesday to approve a new asylum regulation and reform the Aliens Law, with tougher conditions and shortened timelines, after the Ceuta migrant crisis. The two drafts introduce new procedures to identify those who enter irregularly, process international protection applications at the border, and facilitate the return of those who do not have the right to stay in Spain. The decision, which aims to adapt Spanish law to the European Migration and Asylum Pact approved in 2024, comes after 80,000 migrants entered Ceuta on July 30 and 31. The Government, however, defends that the new model will enable a response to the “new reality of the migratory phenomenon” through a system that is “quicker, more efficient, orderly and guarantees-based.” Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has insisted that the changes will be undertaken with a “guarantee-focused” approach and without reducing the rights of applicants and beneficiaries of international protection. The reforms affect both the asylum application procedure and the initial handling of people who enter Spain without having passed border controls. A new border asylum procedure One of the main changes is introduced in the future asylum law, which will in any case require the endorsement of the coalition partners. The draft distinguishes between the ordinary procedure to examine international protection requests and an accelerated procedure that must be resolved within a maximum of three months. In addition, a new border examination procedure is added, foreseen by European regulation and that will be mandatory in certain cases. In these cases, the Administration shortens the timelines and will have a maximum of 12 weeks to resolve the application. During that period, the applicant must remain at the disposal of Spanish authorities. YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN Alejandro Requeijo This procedure will be applied before formal entry into Spain is authorized and aims to facilitate return in case the international protection request is rejected. The new rule will also update the definitions of international protection, refugee status and subsidiary protection. It will also expressly incorporate cases of persecution related to gender, gender identity or expression, and disability. Triage for those who enter without passing controls The reform of the Aliens Law introduces, for its part, the triage procedure, an initial procedure to gather information about people who have entered Spain without undergoing border controls beforehand. The process will include a medical examination, a vulnerability assessment, migrant identification, biometric data collection, and a security inspection. Once completed, authorities will decide to which procedure each person should be referred. The European pact allows this triage to last up to seven days, but Spain will maintain the current 72-hour limit, which can only be extended with judicial authorization. According to Interior, the objective is to minimize the time migrants spend in police facilities equipped to conduct these controls. Marlaska has also stated that the reform incorporates the mechanisms foreseen in the European pact to prevent the entry of those who arrive irregularly and have no right to international protection. In these cases, the processing time will have a maximum of 12 weeks. Torres: “Priority is always return” The reforms coincide with the new device deployed by the Government to address the situation in Ceuta. Government spokesperson and Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, Elma Saiz, has stated that the city “is today the heart of Spain” and defended that an “extraordinary situation” requires an “extraordinary response.” Within that device, the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, assumes single command to coordinate the action. “Return is always the priority, but many are minors,” Torres said. The minister warned that returns require complying with a series of procedures that hinder an immediate response, especially when minors are involved. “To return them we need a series of regulated steps that are not simple, especially for minors,” he explained. “We must comply with national and international laws,” he added, before criticizing the latest words of Alberto Núñez Feijóo about confining migrants. Marlaska, for his part, repeated his defense of Interior’s actions in the face of criticism for a lack of anticipation of the crisis. The minister insisted that there was no report alerting to a mass entry of irregulars into Spanish territory. If there had been information that could have “foreshadowed” such a large arrival, he said, the Government would have adopted all the extraordinary and exceptional measures necessary to address it, as a matter of common sense. The Council of Ministers has taken the first step this Tuesday to approve a new asylum regulation and reform the Aliens Law, with tougher conditions and shortened timelines, after the Ceuta migrant crisis. The two drafts introduce new procedures to identify those who enter irregularly, process international protection requests at the border, and facilitate the return of those who do not have the right to stay in Spain. 1. Sam Altman on the social perception of ChatGPT and AI: “We haven’t done a good job” 2. The Horizontal Property Law clarifies: your community cannot prevent you from installing cat networks in these cases 3. The natural pool a step away from this charming white village in Málaga: a tiny oasis in the Sierra de las Nieves 4. An HVAC expert: “People don’t know how to use air conditioning units; they think you have to turn them off” 5. Joseba Barrenengoa, engineer: “Europe is studying limiting cars to the speed set by the roads” 6. 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Almost a month after the massive entry of thousands of migrants into Ceuta, the Government has approved the pre-drafts of the new Asylum Law and the reform of the Aliens Law, a necessary step to adapt Spanish legislation to the European Migration and Asylum Pact, approved by the European Union in 2024. The new rules, which still must pass through the Courts, change the way irregular arrivals, asylum applications, and returns are managed. The objective, according to Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, is to have a system that is “more agile, efficient, orderly, and guarantor” in the face of the increase in international protection applications, which have risen from about 3,000 in 2009 to 167,000 in 2024 and 144,000 in 2025. What will happen when someone enters irregularly? One of the main novelties will be the so-called on-border triage. People who enter irregularly will have to be identified and undergo medical and security checks, an examination to detect possible vulnerability situations, and the collection of biometric data such as fingerprints and facial image. Until this process is completed, their entry into Spain will not be formally authorized. The planned time frame is 72 hours, though a judge may extend it. In certain cases, asylum seekers will have to remain in police facilities and be at the disposal of authorities while their petition is studied. The border procedure can last up to twelve weeks. The reform will also allow speeding up the study of certain asylum applications, which must be resolved within a maximum of three months. This will apply, among other cases, when there are reasons related to national security, the allegations are manifestly incoherent, or when the circumstances provided for applicants from countries considered safe are present. Refusal of the asylum request The new system also aims to streamline returns. The resolution denying an international protection request may directly include the return decision, so that those who do not have the right to stay in Spain can be returned following the established procedure. The reform also develops European concepts such as a “safe third country” or “safe country of origin” and simplifies some procedures and remedies. But irregular entry does not imply automatic removal. First, the situation of each person must be determined, and if they request international protection, they must be able to access the corresponding procedure with the guarantees provided by European law. Specific protection for minors and vulnerable people The new legislation also strengthens care for particularly vulnerable groups. It contemplates specific measures for minors, people with disabilities, pregnant women, and victims of torture, violence, or trafficking. In the case of unaccompanied minors, the best interests of the child must prevail throughout the entire procedure. The regulations contemplate their guardianship and the search for a solution that may involve family reunification or protection in the country of origin when possible and safe. It also explicitly incorporates scenarios related to persecution for gender, gender identity or expression, and disability. An overdue reform to adapt The European Migration and Asylum Pact was approved on May 14, 2024, and its application began on June 12 of the same year. Spain was to adapt its national legislation in the meantime. Former European Deputy Soraya Rodríguez has criticized in El Independiente that the Government reached the entry into force of the new framework without having completed those reforms, despite having sent to Brussels in December 2024 a National Implementation Plan in which it acknowledged their necessity. You may be interested in: The most viewed

The Government approved this Tuesday, in its first Council of Ministers after the summer break, a draft bill to reform immigration and asylum laws in line with the new European pact, thus tightening and speeding up procedures to deny asylum and therefore begin steps toward a possible expulsion. These are reforms for which Sumar has once again made observations, because they imply a tightening of the regulation, but according to the Interior Minister they are inspired by the “respect for human rights” of migrants and in any case they do not prevent an individualized procedure for each person who enters irregularly. Marlaska recalled that Spain has opposed the harsher parts of the new European migration and asylum pact, especially the part that opens the door to deportation centers in third countries, but he assures that it must adapt Spanish law to what Europe says. This reform was planned before the Ceuta crisis, but politically it is significant that it reaches a Council of Ministers monopolized by immigration and just as the opposition is calling for a change in these laws to tighten them. “The objective is to align Spanish legislation with the European pact on migration and asylum,” Grande-Marlaska said at the press conference after the Council of Ministers. The minister assured that the reform, which will now begin a slow process and will take months to be approved in Congress, if it secures the votes, will allow the incorporation of the triage figure for returns, which is mandatory for member states. He noted that, although the European Regulation sets a deadline of up to seven days, in Spain it will remain 72 hours extendable only by judicial decision to limit to the minimum the time the foreigner must remain in the police facilities enabled for triage on the border procedure of return. In other words, despite the tightening, Spanish law will be softer than what the European regulation allows. The decisions taken by the Council of Ministers will facilitate “the processing of international protection application files,” Marlaska assured. “The future law distinguishes between the ordinary examination procedure and an accelerated examination procedure that must be resolved in three months,” he pointed out. And he stressed that applicants whose petitions are rejected will receive a notice to leave the country. Thus, he argued that these legal modifications will also allow “the necessary management of our borders to guarantee security in our country.” Additionally, the Council of Ministers declared “for the first time in history” the situation of “national security interest in Ceuta,” as explained by the government spokesperson, Elma Saiz, and formalized the creation of a single command that will manage the crisis affecting Ceuta since the mass entry by swimming of around 80,000 migrants on July 30 and 31. Fighting xenophobic messages The reform driven by the Executive includes the provisions of the European pact on migration “that prevent entry into the national territory of those who arrive irregularly at our borders,” Marlaska emphasized. At the same time, the minister highlighted the “guarantee-oriented approach” regarding the human rights of the draft laws and assured that the Government is working with the Hate Crime Prosecutor’s Office to act against “extremist groups” with racist and xenophobic discourses. For his part, the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, who is in charge of coordinating the single command for the Ceuta crisis, used his intervention to defend the Government’s management, which he described as “appropriate,” while recalling that “tens of thousands of people returned to Morocco.” He also celebrated the Government’s decision in this new phase in which the creation of the committee to take control of the situation in the autonomous city was approved. He also announced that this Tuesday the Council of Ministers also approved a royal decree that “enables various resources and spaces,” both owned by the central Executive and the Ceuta Government. He announced that the first report on the work of the various ministries has already been submitted, including actions taken and new proposals. The head of the single command stated that “the priority of the Government of Spain is the return,” but warned that they will act in accordance with the law. Thus, he used the opportunity to chide the PP leader and opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who calls for the return of minors. “It is imprudent, reckless, and untruthful,” he criticized. And he insisted that the repatriation of children and adolescents involves a process that must be carried out as the law sets, while recalling that the Ceuta Government delegate was sentenced for the returns that took place in 2021. Asked whether the Government has done any self-criticism in its management of Ceuta, the spokeswoman minister and Minister of Migrations, Elma Saiz, said that from the Executive they have acted “with humility”: “We have given our all and have not stopped working for a moment.” She also said that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, will appear to explain the crisis management, although she did not provide a date. National security Before the meeting of the head of the Executive and his ministers, Sánchez had convened this morning the National Security Council as a first legally required step for the establishment of the single command. Subsequently, the Council of Ministers declared the Ceuta crisis an issue of “national security interest.” The decision was taken almost a month after the crisis began, an action that has been harshly criticized by the opposition. The Ceuta president, from the PP, had been asking for weeks to transfer control and management of the crisis to the central Government in view of being overwhelmed by the situation. The creation of the single command is accompanied by the launch of a series of economic aid measures aimed at revitalizing the autonomous city, whose businesses have been affected after the arrival of thousands of migrants. However, the recovery plan—which will expand the current program already underway and which amounted to 180 million euros, according to the first deputy prime minister and Economy minister, Carlos Cuerpo—has not yet been agreed on this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers, but is expected to be done in the coming weeks. A 25 million euro credit for the reception of minors The Council of Ministers also approved a one-time credit of 25 million euros to support Ceuta in managing the reception of unaccompanied minors. This initiative will ultimately be voted on Thursday at the Sectoral Conference on Childhood and Adolescence. Minister Torres has called for “high-mindedness and responsibility” from the communities that will attend that meeting where the credit will be evaluated. The agreement states that Ceuta may use these resources to fund immediate care and reception of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents. Among them are included information, guidance, and psychosocial support, schooling, social and labor insertion, and social inclusion. Ceuta will also be able to cover the costs of accommodation, transport, food, clothing, legal support, medical care, or identification of vulnerable profiles. Finally, the autonomous city may use the funds to pay for expanded places in the system or related costs, such as staff for care.

The Council of Ministers this Tuesday, the first after the summer break, approved two draft laws to adapt the national legislation to the European migration and asylum pact, which entered into force in June but was not yet in operation in Spain: the asylum law and a reform of the Aliens Law. The next step for the Government is to send the text to the ministries with competence in the matter to incorporate their contributions, and the mandatory reports will be requested from the General Council of the Judiciary and organizations such as the Forum for the Social Integration of Immigrants. The European pact has been translated into ten legislative texts: Directive 2024/1346 establishing reception standards for international protection applicants, which must be transposed into national legislation, and nine other legislative instruments that are directly applicable regulations. The Government has explained that there are provisions that must be specified at the national level due to the “enormous differences in migration and asylum realities” among EU member states. The new asylum law According to Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the first draft crafts a new asylum law that updates and clarifies the definitions of international protection, refugee status, and subsidiary protection. The future law distinguishes, within the processing of international protection applications, between the ordinary examination procedure and an accelerated examination procedure, which must be resolved within three months. In addition, a new border procedure is set, provided for in the EU regulation and applicable in certain cases, with a maximum resolution period of 12 weeks, during which the international protection applicant must remain at the disposal of the Spanish authorities. This measure, Marlaska added, is a precaution applied before formal entry into the country is authorized and “facilitates their return” in case of denial of the request for international protection. These are the key points, according to the Ministry: - It includes regulating the figure of the representative for minors who request international protection and clarifies aspects such as guardianship, seeking family members, and presumption of minority while the assessment is carried out, according to the Ministry of Interior. - The draft includes provisions aimed at clarifying the different acts that make up access to the procedure (formulation, registration, and formalization of the application) and specifying the deadlines for carrying them out, which are reduced, especially through the introduction of a new accelerated procedure that must be resolved in three months. - It incorporates the border procedure provided for in Regulation (EU) 2024/1348, with a maximum period of twelve weeks, during which the applicant must remain in police facilities at the disposal of the authorities, a precaution that is applied before formal entry to the country is authorized and facilitates return in case of denial of international protection. - The text updates the basic concepts of the asylum system and specifies the definitions of international protection, refugee status, and subsidiary protection, and incorporates realities that are already relevant in practice such as gender-related persecution, gender identity or expression, and disability. - In subsidiary protection, it specifies the serious harm that can justify it, including serious and individual threats against life or bodily integrity of civilians in armed conflict contexts. - It sets out in more detail how applications should be examined and regulates more precisely the reception of applicant persons, including attention to particular needs, schooling of minors, authorization to work, health care, material reception conditions, and their possible reduction or withdrawal in certain cases. - The regulation of beneficiary persons is completed with a clearer ordering of their residence, movement, and documentation, expands integration measures, and provides for specific care for people with special needs such as minors, people with disabilities, pregnant women, or victims of torture, violence, or trafficking. - The text develops the concepts of first asylum country, safe third country, and safe country of origin, which may influence admission or the way of processing applications, and introduces the possibility of integrating a return decision into the denial resolution. - The rule simplifies the remedy regime: strengthens the contentious-administrative route and eliminates, in general, the prior administrative appeal. - Finally, the Interior Ministry is configured as the decision-making authority and the functions of the bodies and entities involved in the system are updated. The draft reinforces the confidentiality of all procedures, the training of personnel, and the modernization of communications with interested persons, incorporating the use of electronic means. Aliens Law reform Regarding the Aliens Law, the reform incorporates the figure of triage, the information-gathering process for foreign nationals who cross borders without having undergone entry border controls. This control includes a medical examination, a vulnerability assessment, identification, collection of biometric data, security inspection, and referral to the appropriate procedure in each case. These are the novelties, in addition to triage: - The draft regulates the obligation imposed by PEMA not to authorize entry into Spanish territory until triage is completed. The European regulation allows this procedure to last up to seven days, but under the Spanish rule it will remain 72 hours (extendable only by judicial decision in justified individual cases) to limit as much as possible the time during which the foreign person must remain in police facilities. - The draft covers the border return procedure provided for in PEMA to expedite the return of foreigners who arrive irregularly in the country and do not have the right to international protection, a return that must be carried out within twelve weeks in the most efficient and rights-protecting way. - For international protection applicants, the reform regulates a right of stay in the country that does not grant the right to obtain a residence authorization if that person incurs in any of the legal figures that would make them eligible for a denial of entry or a return order. - If an international protection application is rejected, the applicant will receive the notification along with the denial of entry that imposes the obligation to leave the country. Marlaska has argued that both draft laws have been prepared “with a clearly rights-respecting, human-rights-based approach for migrants,” an approach that already led Spain to “reject the return regulation to third countries.” “Starting the drafting of a new kind of asylum law will allow us to comprehensively incorporate all the provisions of the European regulations related to the people seeking and benefiting from international protection. It will also allow us to adapt the Spanish regulatory framework to the EU common asylum system and provide greater clarity and legal certainty to a matter that has so far been scattered across different EU regulations,” he argued.

Spain is set to reform its asylum laws as the Ceuta crisis remains unresolved. The European legislation aims to make it easier to reject asylum requests and accelerate returns, in line with demands from the bloc's hardline countries 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.

Spain approves two bills to reform its asylum and immigration laws amid the migratory crisis in Ceuta The Spanish government approved on Tuesday, August 25, the two draft laws for a new asylum law and the reform of the immigration law to adapt the migratory system to the European Migration and Asylum Pact, effective since June, while Ceuta faces the consequences of the massive arrival of between 70,000 and 80,000 people from Morocco at the end of July. Meanwhile, the executive strengthens emergency control with a single command led by the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres. A reform in the midst of a migratory emergency. The Council of Ministers approved the two draft laws at a moment particularly sensitive for Spain, after the irregular entry of around 80,000 people into Ceuta on July 30 and 31, a figure that equals the city’s population. Although most subsequently returned to Morocco, several thousand remain in the autonomous city, according to government estimates. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska explained that the main objective of the reforms is to adapt Spanish legislation to the European Migration and Asylum Pact approved in 2024 and in force since June. European regulations are directly applicable, but leave room for states to specify certain procedures, a possibility Madrid intends to use to respond to a migratory reality that it considers increasingly complex. To display this X (Twitter) content, you must enable audience measurement and advertising cookies. The Government assures that the new regulations will seek to combine more effective border management with guarantees for those seeking international protection. Marlaska stressed that streamlining procedures does not mean stopping processing applications and defended a system that is “more agile, efficient, orderly and guarantor,” with particular attention to minors, vulnerable people, and family reunification. Read also Migration crisis in Ceuta: what is happening and why the Spanish government mobilizes the Army? A new path to accelerate asylum applications The future asylum law will distinguish between an ordinary procedure and an accelerated one, to be resolved within a maximum period of three months. The Government aims to reduce response times in light of the strong rise in international protection requests: from about 3,000 applications in 2009 to 167,000 in 2024 and 144,000 in 2025. The reform also expressly incorporates situations of persecution related to gender, gender identity or expression, and disability. According to Interior, several of these realities were already considered in administrative practice, but would now be explicitly included in the new legislation. The so-called border procedure will be mandatory in certain cases and will have a maximum resolution period of 12 weeks. During that period, the applicant will be at the disposal of Spanish authorities before their entry into the country is formally authorized, a mechanism that, according to the Government, will facilitate returns when the international protection request is denied. For minors, its use will be “very exceptional.” To display this X (Twitter) content, you must enable audience measurement and advertising cookies. Read also The Spanish government approves mass regularization: how will the process be? The 72-hour triage for those who enter irregularly The reform of the immigration law introduces the figure of the “triage,” conceived as a first assessment of people who have entered Spain irregularly without passing through border controls. The process will include identification, biometric data collection, medical examination, vulnerability assessment, security checks, and subsequent referral to the appropriate procedure. Although the European framework allows this process to last up to seven days, Spain will maintain a maximum period of 72 hours, which can only be extended by judicial authorization. The Government maintains that this limitation aims to minimize the time people spend in police facilities while their situation is determined. The reform also provides that return procedures may be extended up to a maximum of 12 weeks. The combination of these mechanisms aims to orderly respond to irregular entries and speed up the decision on each person’s fate, while authorities must take into account vulnerability and the obligations arising from international and European law. A response that combines returns and reception The Executive has also approved measures to expand reception capacity in Ceuta and has authorized 25 million euros to care for migrant minors. The strategy contemplates enabling new state- and regionally-owned spaces to relieve pressure on existing facilities and progressively restore normalcy in the city. The response involves 11 ministries, in addition to local authorities and the Government Delegation. The departments involved include Interior, Inclusion, Health, Children and Youth, Justice, Defense, Equality, Economy, Foreign Affairs and Education, with actions spanning from reception and health care to preparing the school year. Thus, the Government has presented the asylum and immigration reforms as part of a broader strategy to address the Ceuta emergency and, at the same time, adapt Spain to the new European migratory framework. The draft laws must now receive opinions from the State Council and the General Council of the Judiciary before reaching the Courts as bills, while Torres’s single command will face in parallel the immediate management of a crisis that has made Ceuta one of the main focal points of Spanish migration policy. Ángel Víctor Torres assumes the single command of the Ceuta crisis Parallel to the legislative reform, the Government has decided to extend to December 31 the single command established to address the migratory emergency in Ceuta, with the possibility of renewal. The person in charge will be the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, after the Government declared the situation of national security interest in the autonomous city. The decision aims to coordinate the actions of the different administrations after the Government acknowledged that the mass arrival of migrants has disrupted the normal functioning of public services and has subjected both the reception system and the security forces to strong pressure. Torres will work alongside Ceuta’s president, Juan Jesús Vivas, the Government Delegation, the National Intelligence Center and eleven other ministries. To display this X (Twitter) content, you must enable audience measurement and advertising cookies. Torres has defended the initial response of the Spanish authorities and noted that approximately 95% of the people who arrived in the first days returned to Morocco. For the second phase, the Government sets as priorities the return and repatriation of those who can be legally sent back, along with humanitarian aid and the protection of asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors.

The Government has advanced this Tuesday a new Asylum Law and a reform of the Organic Law on Immigration with the declared objective of adapting the Spanish order to the European Pact on Migration and Asylum approved in 2024, after the mass entry on July 30 into Ceuta that tested some of the main reception, international protection, border control, and return mechanisms. The two reforms, signed as draft laws, had begun to be prepared before the crisis erupted —as the Government spokesperson explained— and, therefore, are not a legislative response to what happened in Ceuta, but their processing coincides with an episode that has laid bare the practical and legal difficulties of managing in a short time the arrival of tens of thousands of people and, in particular, the situation of minors and those seeking international protection. Moncloa declares the situation of national-security interest. In addition, the Government has approved a royal decree to declare Ceuta a situation of national-security interest. According to the draft, which LA RAZÓN has seen, it contemplates activating a single command for coordination under the figure of a “Functional Authority,” a responsibility that the Executive has decided to attribute to the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory. In the document, the Government expressly acknowledges that the presence in Ceuta of a large number of irregular migrants has disrupted the normal functioning of public administrations and has exceeded their ordinary capacity for management, reception, assistance, and public safety. This situation has led the Executive to resort to the exceptional coordination mechanism provided in the National Security Law. The decree designs an extraordinary structure to centralize the coordination of the crisis response, while formally preserving the competencies of each Administration and the existing chains of command. The Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, has been designated as the authority responsible for directing and coordinating the mobilized resources, determining priorities in their allocation, establishing common objectives, and driving the measures necessary to preserve Ceuta’s essential services. The Executive has also provided that the National Security Council assume the direction and coordination of crisis management and has activated a Situation Committee and a permanent Coordination Cell. In this setup it has included representatives from Interior, Defense, Foreign Affairs, Inclusion, Youth and Childhood, Finance, Health, and other departments, in addition to the Ceuta Government, the Government Delegation, the State Attorney General’s Office, the President’s Cabinet, and the National Intelligence Center (CNI). The decree sets the validity of this exceptional situation until December 31, although it leaves open the possibility for the Prime Minister to agree to its extension, modify its material or geographical scope, or determine its early termination, always after a report from the National Security Council. To support this device, the Government has planned to mobilize capacities from almost the entire State Administration. Defense has been called upon to provide personnel, logistics, healthcare, transportation, surveillance, housing, infrastructure, and communications. Interior has concentrated capacities related to border control, public safety, order maintenance, identification of foreigners, and the fight against irregular immigration and human trafficking. The decree also includes the security forces and bodies deployed in Ceuta and any reinforcements the competent authorities may deploy. The Executive has identified, in addition, a battery of facilities that can be placed at the service of the crisis response. Among them are several lands under the Ministry of Defense, such as Loma Margarita, the Equestrian Facilities, the former flour mill building, the former football field of the Cavalry Barracks, or unused spaces at the Coronel Fiscer garrison. To these resources it has added facilities under the City of Ceuta, including the Military Hospital and several multi-sport centers. The Government has also incorporated the external dimension into crisis management. The decree has assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the resources intended for diplomatic and consular cooperation with Morocco and other countries, as well as coordination with the European Union and international organizations, and support for the procedures of “identification, documentation, readmission, and return” of migrants. Finally, Moncloa has also planned to centralize the information strategy. During the validity of the declaration, the coordination of public communication has been entrusted to a Coordination Office for Information, dependent on the Secretary of State for Communication and under the direction of whoever holds the Government Spokesperson’s office.

The Government has approved, in its first Council of Ministers after the summer break, two draft laws to reform Spain's immigration and asylum system and adapt it to the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska presented both initiatives at the subsequent press conference as an attempt to combine an “agile, effective and orderly” management of migratory flows with the maintenance of guarantees for migrants. The reform, he added, will also speed up the processing of international protection requests and improve “the necessary management of our borders to ensure security in our country.” The two norms—a new Regulatory Law on International Protection and a partial reform of the Aliens Law—develop Spain’s implementation of the European package approved in 2024. Nine Community regulations are already directly applicable, while Spain must incorporate the European directive on reception conditions into its legal order and specify some of the options left open by Community law. The Government itself had already included the new international protection law among its regulatory projections for this year. The main novelty of the immigration reform will be the incorporation of the so-called “triage” for foreign nationals who cross external borders without going through the ordinary entry controls. It is a procedure prior to formal entry into Spain that will include identification, collection of biometric data, a medical exam, a vulnerability assessment and a security inspection, in addition to determining the appropriate procedure in each case. The keys to the reform - A “triage” before entering Spain - A new border return procedure - Two avenues to process asylum applications - More protection for vulnerable groups - A single law to organize the asylum system The European Pact allows this process to last up to seven days, but the Government has decided to keep a maximum period of 72 hours in Spain. It can only be extended by judicial decision. The stated objective of Interior is to minimize the time migrants spend in police facilities used to carry out the procedure to the essential minimum. The reform also incorporates the new border return procedure contemplated by European law. In practice, people who arrive irregularly at the Spanish borders and do not have a right to international protection will be subject to a procedure that does not authorize their formal entry into national territory and that will allow streamlining their eventual return. This procedure will have a maximum duration of 12 weeks. During that period, those who have applied for international protection must remain at the disposal of the Spanish authorities. In the case of those who have requested international protection, if the request is denied they will receive with the denial the corresponding notification obliging them to leave the country. The new asylum model also introduces different channels to examine applications. The future law will distinguish between an ordinary procedure and an accelerated one, which must be resolved within a maximum of three months, in addition to the border procedure, whose resolution can be extended up to 12 weeks. The reform also aims to organize the various access procedures to the international protection process and specify their deadlines. Interior intends, with the new International Protection Law, to bring together in a single norm much of the rules that to date have been dispersed among different European and Spanish provisions. The goal is to provide greater clarity and legal certainty to a system that has so far relied on a dispersed regulatory framework. The text will update the definitions of international protection, refugee status and subsidiary protection and will expressly incorporate cases of persecution related to gender, gender identity or expression, and disability. The future regulation will also strengthen the specific regulation of people with particular needs, with special attention to minors. The text contemplates the figure of the representative for minors seeking international protection and specifies issues such as guardianship, the search for family members and the presumption of minority while the corresponding assessment is carried out. It also regulates in greater detail reception conditions and the care of the specific needs of minors, people with disabilities, pregnant women and victims of torture, violence or trafficking. The Government emphasizes that the reform will maintain a “guarantist” perspective and pay special attention to vulnerable people, minors and family unity. Grande-Marlaska defended that adapting to the European pact will not entail reducing guarantees for those applying for international protection and recalled that the Executive rejected the European regulation that contemplates return to third countries. In parallel, the minister noted that the Government is working with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for Hate Crimes to act against “far-right groups” and racist and xenophobic discourses. The two texts were approved this Tuesday in the first reading, so they still must complete their processing before reaching Parliament. The Government will obtain reports from the Council of State, the General Council of the Judiciary, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Spanish Data Protection Agency, among other bodies, and will also forward the texts to the ministries with competence in the matter to incorporate their contributions. It will therefore have to be approved in a second reading before being sent to the Cortes. Grande-Marlaska has trusted that the two initiatives can soon become draft laws and has advanced that the Government will then seek agreement with parliamentary groups. “Immigration and international protection policies are state policies,” the minister defended, and he hopes the new framework will obtain “the greatest possible political and social consensus.”

The Government approves a draft law on asylum and another on reforming the immigration law amid the crisis in Ceuta - Measures are taken to align the Spanish legal framework with the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, in force since June - The processing of asylum applications will be streamlined but with a "guarantee-driven" approach and protection of human rights The Council of Ministers approved this Tuesday a draft for a new asylum law and another to reform the immigration law. According to Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the common objective of both texts is to align Spain’s legal framework with the European Pact on Migration and Asylum, approved in 2024 and in force since June. The decision comes amid a migratory crisis in Ceuta, after the arrival of between 70,000 and 80,000 migrants on July 30 and 31, of whom several thousand remain in the city. As Marlaska explained, the European regulations derived from that Pact are directly applicable, but they “leave room for regulation or gradations.” Therefore, a “new regulation is implemented, taking into account the new migratory reality to be more effective,” but at the same time with an “absolutely guarantee-driven approach and protection of the human rights of those seeking international protection.” This guarantee-driven approach “is compatible with a regulation that helps ensure border management and also to prevent any possibility of improper use of the international protection system.” Regarding minors, the so-called border procedure, the urgent processing mechanism for applications at border posts introduced by the Migration and Asylum Pact, will be applied only very exceptionally. Speeding up the processing of asylum applications The new asylum law will modify procedural issues and allow speeding up the time to approve or deny asylum requests, but “it in no way creates the non-processing of any international protection file.” According to Interior, the aim is to respond better to the increase in applications, rising from 3,000 in 2009 to 167,000 in 2024 and 144,000 in 2025. The new protection system will be “more agile, efficient, orderly, and guarantee-driven.” Special attention will be given to vulnerable people, minors, and family reunification. This asylum norm incorporates “realities” already taken into account in practice, such as persecution based on gender, gender identity, and disability. The future law distinguishes between the “ordinary merits procedure” and another “accelerated” one, which must be resolved within a maximum period of three months. It also establishes the “border procedure,” applicable obligationally in certain cases, with a maximum resolution period of 12 weeks, during which the protection applicant will be “at the disposal of Spanish authorities.” It is applied before formal entry into the country is authorized and “facilitates return in case of denial of protection internacional.” Immigration reform: a triage that lasts up to 72 hours Regarding the immigration law, Marlaska explained that the reform incorporates the concept of “triage,” the process of collecting information about foreigners who have entered irregularly, without passing through border controls. The triage includes a medical examination, a vulnerability assessment, identification, the collection of biometric data, a security inspection, and referral to the appropriate procedure in each case. Triage is mandatory for member states, and although the European regulation sets a deadline of up to seven days, in Spain it will remain at 72 hours, extendable only by judicial decision, in order to “minimize the time a foreigner must spend in police facilities.” On the return of migrants to their countries of origin, he explained that the process will take a maximum of 12 weeks. The rules are approved in the first reading, so they must now receive opinions from bodies such as the Council of State or the General Council of the Judiciary. After that, they will go to Parliament as a bill. Marlaska expressed hope that this will happen “as soon as possible.”

The Spanish government on Tuesday approved a draft bill to reform the country's asylum and immigration legislation to "adapt Spanish legislation to the European Pact on Migration and Asylum." MADRID, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish government on Tuesday approved a draft bill to reform the country's asylum and immigration legislation to "adapt Spanish legislation to the European Pact on Migration and Asylum." Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska announced the changes following Tuesday's cabinet meeting against the backdrop of the recent migration crisis in Ceuta, which saw an estimated 70,000 people enter the Spanish North African enclave from Morocco on July 30, many hoping to travel onward to other parts of the European Union. Although most of the migrants subsequently returned to Morocco, several thousand remain in the enclave. The Spanish government has declared a "situation of national security interest" in Ceuta until the end of the year. The government has also established a unified command to coordinate its response to the migration crisis. The measure was announced on Monday by Vice President and Minister of Economy, Trade and Business Carlos Cuerpo following a meeting with Ceuta President Juan Jesus Vivas. Other measures approved on Tuesday included allocating around 25 million euros (29.2 million U.S. dollars) for the care of unaccompanied minors who entered the enclave, as well as a further 180 million euros (210 million dollars) to strengthen security and manage the return of migrants from Ceuta. Grande-Marlaska told a press conference that authorities had received no warning of the mass influx. "No intelligence service suspected anything of the sort, and that's why everyone acted correctly," he said. ■